Thin Line
by AmboDriver
Summary: After storming out over a fight with Callie, Arizona has to fly to harvest a heart along with Cristina . Along the way there's a problem and their plane never arrives in Spokane. This was written before the Season 8 season finale and has nothing to do with it. Rated M for language.
1. Chapter 1

Timeline: This takes place sometime in the spring of the 8th (current as of this posting) season. Although it's really not all that important

Disclaimer: I don't own any of them. Shonda and company do. I'm not making any money from this. I'll put them back more or less in one piece when I'm done.

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><p>Chapter One<p>

Callie smiled broadly as she watched Sofia start to pull herself up to a wobbly standing position by the couch. "I think she'll do it this time," she whispered to Arizona, who was sitting on the floor with her, holding her hand tightly in excited anticipation.

Arizona's laughter was quiet, as was the wonder in her voice. "She's so much further along than she should be."

"She's got three overachievers for parents. She better be further along," Callie replied. She was going to say something else, but Sofia was just getting up to a full standing position. "Come on, Sweetie," she said loudly enough that Sofia would hear her encouragement, but not enough to distract her.

Sofia's little fists were tightly wound into the couch's upholstery as she finally got her legs extended. She wobbled back and forth on her legs but stayed upright. The little girl slowly turned her head to look at her mommies with big brown eyes full of uncertainty.

"Yay, Sofia," Arizona said with soft applause, which Callie quickly joined in. This reaction from her mothers caused Sofia to giggle as she continued to shift her weight back and forth on unsteady legs.

Then Mark's loud voice rang out as he came out of the nursery. "Can we just get rid of…"

Sofia's head shot up at the sound of her father's voice, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the floor. There was a momentary pause as the baby obviously tried to figure out what happened, and then she erupted into tears.

"Bravo, Mark, she just stood for the first time and you scared her. She'll be scarred for life now," Arizona said with just a hint of kidding in her voice.

"She stood?" Mark asked, his voice full of the same wonder both woman had had earlier. He went over immediately and scooped Sofia up in his arms to swing her around, which served to turn the crying into a fit of laughter. "You stood!" Mark's pride was written all over his face.

It brought a huge smile to Callie's face as well. "Yup," she said as she scrambled to her feet. She held out a hand to Arizona to help pull her to a standing position before going over to give Sofia a kiss on the cheek. "Our little girl is growing up so fast."

Arizona nuzzled at Sofia's belly. "She really is." She then looked up and wrinkled her nose. "She's also a champion pooper and she needs a change." She looked up at Mark with a raised eyebrow.

"On it." He started toward the nursery. "It's the least I can do after scarring her for life, huh?"

Callie shook her head in amusement as she pulled Arizona in for a warm hug. "I can't believe how fast she's growing up."

"I know," Arizona said as she tightly hugged her wife. "She'll be toddling around before long. We better start baby proofing everything."

Callie laughed as an image of Arizona, screwdriver in hand, putting in baby-protective hardware came to mind. There was something both amusing and wildly alluring in that image. Callie plopped down on the couch, pulling Arizona down so that they were quickly snuggling together, arms and legs entwined. "She won't be a baby for much longer."

"No, she won't." There was a wistful quality to Arizona's voice that was punctuated by a quiet sigh.

"We should start thinking about getting pregnant again." The words flew out of Calliope's mouth before she could think better of it.

Arizona's head rose up and there was a deep furrow on her brow. "You know you should wait at least a year, probably more. And Addison said—"

"I know what Addison said." Callie didn't like to consider the fact that the damage and scarring from the emergency C-section could mean she might never carry another baby to term, or even be able to get pregnant. She sighed quietly, weighing whether she should press the issue. As usual, her mouth started before her brain could finish deciding to keep it shut. "You could carry our next baby."

Arizona sat up stiffly. "What?" She quickly shook her head. "No, I…just no."

Callie pulled back and looked at Arizona as if she had grown a second head. "Why not? You love being a mom."

"A mom, yes," Arizona cut it. "I do love that. But I have no desire to be a baby oven."

"A what?" Anger started to flare in Callie. "Is that what you think having a baby is?" When Arizona looked away instead of answering, Callie tried a different tactic. "Come on, how cute would a little you be? All blonde hair and blue eyes and those dimples." Just the thought of it made Callie gush with the potential cuteness.

"There's no guarantee the baby would look like me. It would depend on the father…"

"You and Mark would have—"

Arizona cut her off by standing up. "Me and Mark? Really?"

Callie rose to her feet and tried to temper her voice. "I just thought that if I can't have any more kids, it'd be nice if our children were biologically related. That way, if there are any medical issues, they might be able to—"

"Don't," Arizona said quickly to cut her off. "Look, I admit you were right about us having children. It's something I love. I would never change that. But I just don't want to be the one to have them. Especially not with the help of Mark's sperm." She raised her head toward the nursery door and said louder. "No offense, Mark."

"None taken," Mark called from behind the nursery door.

Arizona shook her head toward his voice before turning back to Callie. "No. No to Mark's sperm. That's just gross." She shuddered visually. "And no to a baby in my womb. My womb will remain babyless. If you can't have any more, we'll adopt. There are a ton of kids out there that need a good family and we're a good family. We're a great family."

Callie smirked. "Because that worked out so well for our straight friends. You know the uphill battle we'd face as a lesbian couple if we want to adopt." She raised a hand to stop Arizona's protest. "Not impossible, but difficult. But, seriously, what's the problem? Don't you want Sofia to have a sibling? I mean you had Timothy—"

"Stop right there!" Arizona's face had gone bright red. She took two quick breaths before saying through her clenched teeth, "You do not get to use him in this argument, or ever. Not at all." She turned and went over to the coat rack to collect her jacket. "I'm done talking about this. Or arguing or whatever this is." She pulled her coat on and grabbed her purse. "I've got to get to work," she said with still too much anger in her voice before storming out of the apartment.

Callie just stood there, her mouth agape, as she stared at the door. "What the hell just happened?"

"Your wife doesn't want my champion swimmers anywhere near her girl parts," Mark answered from the doorway to the nursery.

Callie glared over at her best friend. "Just be quiet. And quit eavesdropping." She looked back at the door, as if Arizona would suddenly reappear, even though Callie knew full well that would not happen, not when Arizona's temper was flaring. "We'll work this out," she said to herself. She sighed as she turned back to Mark. "I mean she came around about having kids, right? She just needs time. She'll reconsider. She will." She nodded, trying to convince herself.

Mark nodded supportively. "Hope so. And I'm ready to play my part when she does. Did you envision us going old school or—"

"Mark!" Callie tried to be mad, but she knew he was just joking. "The only old school you'll get is a pile of vintage _Playboys_ and a specimen cup. For either of us."

Mark's grin grew as his eyes sparkled. "Turkey baster it is." He laughed and then got a little more serious. "I'll get Sofia to daycare. You go enjoy a shower before work. It'll help." He quickly darted back into the nursery.

Callie grunted in frustration. "Oven! Turkey baster! This isn't Thanksgiving dinner. This is our family." She shook her head, trying to chase away the anger that was still bubbling through her. It didn't work. With a heavy sigh, she turned toward their bedroom. "I got you to want to date me when you wouldn't. I got you to want kids when you swore you didn't want any," she said with more resolve than she actually felt. "I'll get you to want this. I will. This'll be a piece of cake compared to all of that." She nodded and went to get ready for work and hopefully a more civil discussion with Arizona about their future.

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><p>"We got a heart."<p>

Arizona blinked at Cristina's voice, thoughts of her fight with Callie being chased away by the chart being shoved in her face. "Where?"

"Spokane."

Arizona nodded. "That's cutting it close. Do we have a plane?"

"Owen is setting it up right now. We've got a car waiting downstairs already." Just then her phone rang and, after glancing at it, she put it up to her ear. "Hi, Owen." She listened for a few moments before saying, "Will do." She hung up and then turned back to Arizona. "Slight change of plans. Weather could be an issue if we don't get a move on. We need to be in the air within thirty minutes or the charter company won't risk it. So we're going by helicopter to the airport. We need to get up to the pad ASAP."

Arizona's brain was shocked into motion by the sudden change of plans. "I wanted to tell the Johnsons myself."

Cristina shook her head as she started to turn to walk away. "Call Karev and have him do it. We've got to collect what we need and move. Now."

Arizona sighed with a look down the hall to the Johnsons' room. She would rather have talked to them herself, but it was more important to get the heart their unborn baby needed. "Page Dr. Karev," she told the nurse sitting behind the desk. "Have him speak with the Johnsons. He can get details from the chief." She waited only long enough for the nurse to nod before turning to follow Cristina.

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><p>Callie walked up to the nurses' station to find Alex going over a chart. "Have you seen my wife?"<p>

"Huh?" he asked as he looked up at her. "Oh, hi Torres. Yeah, she and Cristina are leaving to get a heart from a baby donor in Spokane. I think they're taking a helo. You could see if they've left yet if you need to talk to her, but the chief said they were in a hurry."

Callie frowned, resigning herself to not speaking with Arizona in person, at least not for quite a while. Instead she pulled out her phone and sent off a quick text message.

_Hey. Really sorry about this morning. Can we sit and talk about it like old married people tonight? I promise to really listen. Love you._

Karev started to walk away and stopped with a look on his face like he was surprised to see her still standing there. "It's gonna be pretty late before they're done with the transplant. Hope it wasn't important."

"Yeah, I figured that one out on my own, Karev," she said, feeling more and more resigned to spending a long day on edge. There was nothing worse than having a fight and not making up. She started to walk away when her beeper went off. She glanced down at it and saw that she was being paged to the ER. With a sigh she said to no one in particular, "No rest for the weary." She started briskly down the hallway toward the elevators. At least a page to the ER usually meant she'd get to crack some bones. That'd help pass the time.

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><p>Arizona sat staring out of the plane's window, but she wasn't really seeing what was out there as the ground passed by below the plane. It was driving her crazy that she hadn't had any time to answer Callie's text before climbing on board the small personal jet, but at least it had calmed some of the lingering irritation she had been feeling since storming out that morning. Of course Cristina's repeated questions about the procedure didn't help the feeling of anticipation. She just wanted to be on the ground so that she could call Callie and let her know that they'd work it out, one way or the other. "Cristina, you have it down, okay? And both Teddy and I will be there to help. Don't worry."<p>

"I'm not worried," Cristina said from across the small aisle. "It's just that when I put a pediatric heart transplant on my bucket list, I figured it'd never happen. And especially not with a newborn. I'm excited."

"She's not even technically a newborn yet. Karev's going to have to lead the C-section once we confirm we've got the heart." Arizona still couldn't feel the excitement she should be feeling for Cristina. She liked the budding surgeon, even more so after all she had risked and endured to save Callie's life. And she knew she would normally be excited at the prospect of such a remarkable surgery and the chance to give a family the gift of a healthy baby, but that damned fight still weighed heavily on her. "Callie wants me to get pregnant," she blurted out without thinking about it ahead of time.

Cristina was obviously taken by surprise at the subject change, but she quickly adjusted. "And you don't." It was said with just a hint of question, but way more declaration.

"No, I don't." It was a little painful to admit really, mostly because she didn't really know why she was so adamant about it. She had never really thought about it or taken the time to look at the pros and cons. She just had this gut feeling that it wasn't right for her. "I wish I knew why I don't."

Cristina tilted her head thoughtfully. "You end up giving up a lot of control over your life and your body. It's a huge commitment. Do you even want more kids?"

That question immediately made Arizona smile. "Yes." There really was no doubt in her mind she wanted more kids. Maybe not the ten she had once told Callie they would have, but certainly one or two more at least. Sofia needed siblings and Arizona needed to see their daughter enjoy that bond as she grew up. She suddenly chuckled. "Maybe I just need a little time. Every time I've said no to something with regard to Callie, I've ended up saying yes. And it's always ended up being the best decision I've ever made. I wouldn't give up being a mother for anything. Not for anything."

Cristina shrugged. "I could never carry a kid around all the time. Then again, I don't want to raise one either. At least you want that."

Arizona nodded. "I probably just need time. Or maybe we'll get lucky and Callie can get pregnant again. She really loved it last time." She looked out of the window again at the barren landscape. It was really quite beautiful with the mountains and trees all covered with a blanket of late winter snow. _It may be beautiful, but I'd rather see it from the ground. There's just too far to fall from up here._ She looked again at the ground and realized it really wasn't all that far down. "We're flying kind of low," she said quietly to herself. She glanced up at the sky, but only saw a few scattered clouds, so a storm or cloud cover couldn't explain why they were flying so low. She turned to Cristina. "Does it look to you like we're a little low?"

Cristina looked out of the window on her side of the plane. "Holy shit," she exclaimed before quickly looking at the curtain that blocked them from the cockpit. "Hey, pilot, why are we so low?"

When there was no reply, Arizona suddenly got scared. "Pilot? Hello?" She waited only a few seconds before ripping off her seat belt and vaulting toward the cabin. "Something's not right," she said to Cristina as she scrambled down the narrow aisle.

She could hear Cristina starting to follow her as she pushed the curtain aside to get to the cockpit. The pilot was slumped at the controls, all too still. Instinct led Arizona to reach for a pulse as she looked out the front window to gather as much information as she could. The mountains were looming ahead with a carpet of snow-covered trees reaching up to a set of craggy peaks. _If we don't climb, we'll never make it over them. We're gonna crash._

"Shit," she heard Cristina say from behind her.

"He's dead," Arizona said as she climbed into the empty co-pilot's seat. "We need to gain some altitude," she said more to herself than to Cristina.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Cristina's voice was high with panic.

"Not really. My dad learned to fly a few years back, but I never did," Arizona answered as she tried to gain some understanding from the various controls. They were all modern and shiny and confusing. "Make sure he's not touching anything," she said absently as she reached out to grab the controls with sweaty palms. "You don't know how to fly, do you?" she finally asked with a quick glance at Cristina.

"No," Cristina answered as she reached down to pull the pilot's feet off the pedals.

"Okay," Arizona said as she tried to vainly still her pounding heart. "Pull back to go up, right? That's what you see in the movies."

"I think so," Cristina said as she leaned over Arizona's shoulder. "Those mountains are getting close. Too close."

Arizona shook her head. "I knew there was a reason I hated flying," she muttered through clenched teeth. An image of Calliope lying on the hood of Arizona's SUV entered her mind. "Go put your seat belt on." She started to pull back on the yoke, trying to get a feel for how much was enough to climb.

"You first," Cristina said as she scrambled around Arizona's waist to get the lap belt fastened. When there was a light click, she put her hand on Arizona's shoulder for a split second. "You can do this."

"I hope so, now go get buckled in." She pulled back more and felt some relief as the nose of the plane pitched upward. "Okay, this might just work," she muttered quietly. She shot a quick glance back to make sure Cristina was no longer standing there before looking at the mountains ahead. "I really should have paid attention to all the flying talk, Dad," she muttered to herself.

A few seconds into the climb she felt the controls start to shake in her hands. At first, she figured it was her own nerves until the shuddering increased. Her eyes glanced over the controls, trying to piece together what information she could glean. She noticed their air speed was falling. At least she thought that's what that reading meant. She looked around, trying to figure out how to increase their speed so they could fight gravity. In the meantime, she kept a steady grasp on the yoke, continuing to pull back on it. It was the only hope they had.

An alarm suddenly sounded as the plane's nose started to tilt down. "Shit," she muttered as she pulled back harder on the controls. The yoke was no longer shaking, but now it didn't seem to have any impact whatsoever on the direction the plane was headed. They were now headed down—down toward the mountains, and the trees, and the late winter snow. "We're going to crash," she whispered as the realization hit her.

She was furious. She had so much to do. There were lives to save, so many tiny humans that she could help. But more importantly there were people to love—Callie, Sofia, the kids they'd never have together, the grandchildren she'd never meet. She and Callie were supposed to grow old together. They had pledged their lives to one another and they were going to spend it together, for years and years and years.

Arizona tried to conjure a picture of her family years in the future as it was supposed to be. They'd both be gray and wrinkled, and Callie would still be the most beautiful woman in the world. And their kids would be all grown up—kids that looked like younger versions of each of them—now with families of their own. Their lives would be a rainbow of colors and joys and they'd be so happy and content. They'd have lived life to the fullest and together. Always together.

"No, dammit," she cried out as she pushed the stick away in frustration. The trees were getting closer, with the mountains sprouting up behind them. Time seemed to stretch out as the plane seemed to pick up speed during its descent. Arizona shook her head. "No, I won't give up. I won't." She grabbed at the yoke and pulled back on it, trying to find the middle ground between too much and not enough. It had worked before, at least for a bit. Maybe, just maybe, it would work again, if she could just get it right. It had to.

And it did. The nose started to level out and she could feel that the yoke was controlling the plane again. Slowly, she pulled back more, hoping beyond hope that there was time to climb high enough to avoid the trees, to climb the mountains. She had a heart to harvest, a baby to save, a wife to make up with and love with all her soul. And decisions, very important decisions, that needed to be made, that could give them that amazing family she had foreseen. And she knew in that split second that she wanted that vision. She wanted to carry their child, to have a family that reflected them both, to know the joy of bringing life into the world.

"Arizona?" Cristina's panicked voice broke through her thoughts.

Even though the plane was slowly climbing, the ground under them was rising faster than the plane and the trees were getting closer and closer. They weren't going to clear them. There just wasn't time. _It's not fair!_ "Hold on!" was all she had time to yell out before the deafening crunch of metal and wood erupted around her. The cockpit windshield shattered against branches and wood as they flew the last few feet into the towering trees on the mountain side.

_I love you, Sofia. I love you, Calliope. Always and forever. I'll love you always and forever._

And then she was thrown forward against the seatbelt as the plane came to a sudden and violent halt against the mountain. And the pain rushed over her, ripping into her arm and slamming into her head, crushing her into a sudden blackness that she couldn't escape.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Not all ponies and rainbows, but we'll get there…And thanks so much for the reviews. And don't worry too much about Mark...he's purely on supportive best friend duty for this story.

Chapter Two

Cristina's heart was pounding as she took in big rasping gulps of air. They'd come to a stop, an incredibly sudden stop, and yet she was still alive. And, she realized as she started to take stock and try to move parts of her body, she was remarkably unscathed by the crash landing. Her hips hurt a little, from where the seatbelt had kept her from launching forward, but she knew it was only bruising. Otherwise, only the adrenaline coursing through her, making her blood pound and her breathing come in rapid pulls of air, told the story of the last few minutes as they plummeted toward the earth.

_They__._

"Arizona?" she cried as she ripped at the seatbelt to free herself. "Arizona!" She stumbled over the items that had tumbled out of the closet at the front of the cabin, but managed to get to the curtain that hid the cockpit. She ripped it to the side and stopped dead in her tracks.

There was a tree half in the cockpit. Branches and pine needles were everywhere, blocking the view out the front window and keeping her from seeing the co-pilot's chair where Arizona was. "Arizona, can you hear me?" There was still no answer. Everything was rather quiet, in fact. Only the sound of the light breeze outside and a bird singing in the distance kept it from being dead still.

_Dead._

"Arizona!" she cried again as she started to rip through the branches, contorting herself around prickly pine needles and rolling her ankle slightly on a pine cone. She pushed aside one branch, only to have it swing back and slap her across the face, which just served to make her angry at how difficult it was to move the last few feet toward Arizona. She had to know whether the pediatric surgeon was alive or dead.

She ducked under one last branch and started to slide around to the left of the co-pilot's chair. As she climbed up the center console, she saw that Arizona was slumped in the seat, but she was obviously breathing. There was blood streaming down her face from a rather large laceration to her scalp, likely caused by the pointed branch that was sticking right next to her head. That head wound, along with Arizona being unresponsive, really worried Cristina. The only other injury Cristina could see was that another branch from the tree was impaled through Arizona's left bicep. It was likely painful, and might have damaged an artery, but there was little obvious bleeding, so Cristina focused more on the head wound. That could be deadly.

Cristina ripped off the scarf she was wearing and held it to the gash in Arizona's scalp. "Arizona?" she ventured again and was relieved when she saw a hint of blue as Arizona's eyes blinked open.

"What happened?" she croaked out.

"There was a plane crash," Cristina answered, relief flooding through her now that Arizona was awake. "Do you remember?"

"A crash?" Arizona asked as she blinked her eyes and then squinted toward the front of the plane. "No, I don't remember." She swallowed hard and started to move, which caused her to scream out in pain and look down at her arm, her eyes growing wide at the sight of the branch through her arm. "There's a tree in my arm!"

"Hey, stay still for a minute. The tree is the least of your worries right now. You've got quite the head lac." Cristina's eyes looked Arizona up and down and still didn't see any other bleeding or deformities. "Does it hurt anywhere else?"

Arizona bit at her lip as if she were concentrating and took a few moments before she looked up at Cristina. "That's it. I think I'm okay otherwise." She shifted in her seat a little and nodded. "Yeah, I think that's about it." She laughed dryly. "No biggie, really, just a tree through my arm and a head lac that could mean a traumatic brain injury, too."

Cristina slightly pulled away at the scarf to see if the tide of blood had been slowed. It seemed to just be seeping out of the gash now, but she still reapplied the pressure. "It's in the hairline, so it'll hide the Frankenstein scar you'd have otherwise."

Arizona laughed again and then squinted. "No humor, Yang. Makes my head hurt."

"What's the last thing you remember?" As she asked she looked into Arizona's eyes and was relieved to notice that both pupils were equally small. That at least was a good sign that Arizona's head wound wasn't of the more serious variety, even if her memory loss could mean something more was amiss.

Arizona's eyes drifted off to the scene out the window and seemed to lose focus. It took a few moments before she looked up at Cristina again. "We were talking about the surgery. I guess we'd taken off a few minutes before." She looked down at the controls in front of her. "Obviously, I thought I could fly this thing, huh?"

"Better you than me," Cristina said as she turned to look out the plane's front windshield. They hand landed, if you could call it that, in a grove of evergreen trees. One of the trees had snapped and broken through the windshield, leaving pebbles of glass and pine needles all over the controls and Arizona's lap. "Well, I'm guessing we're in the Cascades somewhere."

"What happened to the pilot?"

Cristina looked over her shoulder to the pilot's seat. The poor man was lucky he was already dead before the crash because now he had a large tree branch impaled through his upper chest. She sighed and turned back to Arizona. "He was dead when we got up here. You jumped in the seat and tried to get us up over the mountains, but it didn't work."

Arizona reached up and took over holding the scarf to her forehead. "Maybe I should have taken those flying lessons my father wanted me to take while I was in high school. He thought it would be a good bonding experience for us. He was learning so why not do it together? Really, I think he figured it was a good way for me to get over my hatred of flying." She laughed quietly. "I guess I had good reason to hate it."

"Guess so," Cristina replied as she looked back outside. "So, what do we do now? I guess we just wait and hope someone finds us soon."

"It's supposed to storm later, right? We better get ready to ride that out. I doubt they'll find us that soon. There's a lot of real estate out here to cover."

Cristina's mind went into planning mode as she looked back toward the passenger cabin. "We should probably get to the back of the plane, as far from this open window as possible. There have got to be some blankets back there. I'll have to see what else I can find to hold us over." She looked back outside. "I guess we can melt some snow for water if there isn't any on board. That'll help. But most important is to get you back there and keep you warm."

Arizona looked down at her arm. "You'll have to break this branch off. Otherwise I'm kind of attached to the same tree it is."

Cristina looked at the branch. It really wasn't that big, certainly no more than half an inch in diameter. But the force she would need to put on it to snap it would cause more damage to Arizona's arm, not to mention considerable pain. "Any ideas so I don't rip your arm to shreds?"

Arizona shifted the scarf so that she could see her arm and the branch. "Unless there's a saw on board, I think you'll just have to do your best. How's my head look? Can I stop putting pressure on it and use my hand to stabilize the stick?"

Cristina peeked under the scarf and saw that the blood had really started to clot under the flap of skin along her hairline. There was just the lightest amount of blood still trickling down the side of Arizona's face. "Yeah, it'll be okay while we get you out of here. Once you're settled in, I'll see what I can do to bandage it better."

Arizona tossed the scarf aside and used her free hand to grab on to the wood. "Okay, I'll try to keep it steady. Grab it with both your hands and use your foot to snap it."

Cristina watched as Arizona clenched her jaw, obviously girding herself for the pain. She took a deep breath and put both hands on the branch about a foot away from where it was entering Arizona's arm. She then put her right foot up against the wood and looked up at Arizona. "Ready?"

Arizona nodded and then closed her eyes. "Just do it."

Cristina didn't hesitate. She pushed her foot against the wood as hard as she could. Arizona screamed out as the wood moved under the force of her foot. It took two kicks before the branch snapped. She looked up at Arizona, who was white as a sheet and panting heavily, intense pain written all across her face. "Okay, you're free."

"Awesome," Arizona hissed out through her clenched teeth. She took a few deep breaths and the color started to come back to her face. "Okay, let's get into the back."

It was slow going, especially with Arizona having about a foot of wood sticking out of her left arm. There were a number of times when the branch caught on the tree and Arizona cried out in sudden pain. Cristina had to work hard to push the branches aside and help Arizona through the labyrinth of wood and pine needles. Finally they made it past the curtain and into the relatively roomy area of the passenger cabin. Arizona took a moment to brace herself against the first seat, taking a few gulping breaths of air. "I feel sick," she finally said before turning to the side and throwing up all over the seat.

_Shit._ Cristina hoped that the exertion of moving through the cockpit and not the head wound had been what caused her to be sick.

"That's better," Arizona said as she wiped at her mouth. She looked over to Cristina and gave a hesitant smile. "But I better lie down."

Cristina nodded as she helped Arizona to the back of the plane. There was just enough space behind the last row of seats for her to lie down across the plane. Once she was lying flat, Cristina looked around the cabin. Nothing caught her eye immediately, so she shrugged out of her jacket and put it over Arizona like a blanket. "Try to stay awake while I see what I can find."

"Sure thing," Arizona said as she used her uninjured arm to pull the jacket up tight under her chin.

Cristina started digging through the closets of the plane, gathering a few blankets, their jump bag and the cooler that was supposed to carry the tiny heart they had been going to harvest. She felt sad that the Johnson baby would lose out on the heart. It was just so unfair. But she couldn't allow that to distract her. She had to keep them alive until they were rescued.

"Cristina?"

"Yeah?" Cristina answered as she came back with her booty. She shook out a blanket and motioned for Arizona to get up for a moment so she could place it on the floor.

"The plane was white, right? The paint was white?"

"Yeah," Cristina said absently as she waited for Arizona to resettle down on the floor. She then shook out another blanket to put it over the pediatric surgeon.

"They might not see a white plane against the snow, especially after it snows more later."

_Shit. They could fly right over top of us and never see us__._ "I'll think of something. But right now, just get some rest." She rummaged through their jump bag and found a trauma pad and some gauze wrap, alone with a bottle of betadine. She put a generous squirt of the brown liquid on Arizona's head laceration before using the pad and the gauze to bandage up her head. When she was certain it would stay in place, she leaned back on her heels. "I'm going to go out the windshield and fill the cooler with some snow. We'll need some water." She waited for Arizona to nod and then picked up the cooler and looked around at the cabin. She had no idea how long they'd be stuck there, but it was the only thing that was going to protect them from the coming storm. _They'll be searching for us soon. Half the state will be out looking for us. They'll find us, probably by tomorrow. I just have to keep Arizona alive and we'll both be okay._ She looked back at Arizona and sighed. She looked so pale and fragile. And while the branch wasn't an immediate concern, the wound was certain to become infected sooner rather than later. _They'll find us in time. They have to._

* * *

><p>"Torres."<p>

Callie looked up from where she was hiding in the residents' lounge to find Mark standing just inside the door. "Don't start, Mark. I'm not in the mood. I just had to tell a young mother that her idiot husband died. Why do people ride those damned crotch rocket motorcycles like they're on a race course? And he didn't have a helmet on. Real Darwin award winner if you ask me. Still doesn't help his wife though. Now she has to raise that beautiful baby by herself."

"Torres."

She wiped away a tear. That baby had reminded her so much of Sofia, with her soft dark curls and deep brown eyes. It hit way too close to home. "I said I'm not in the mood."

Mark came over and sat down on the couch next to her. "I've got to tell you something."

There was something in Mark's tone, something deadly serious and emotional, that made her look at him. She could see that he was clenching his jaw and there was something stormy playing in his eyes, some serious worry. Or was that fear? It made her heart start to pound. "What's wrong? It's not Sofia is it?" Every nightmare she'd had since Sofia's birth came flashing through her mind.

"No." She watched as he shifted in his seat and then reached out to take her hands in his own. That terrified her.

"Arizona?" She could barely choke out her wife's name as she began to panic.

Mark nodded. "Her plane has disappeared. It should have landed in Spokane almost an hour ago."

Callie's world suddenly stopped. It seemed to take an eternity as she took first one slow breath and then another, all along her brain tried to grasp what Mark had said. _Disappeared? What did that mean? How does a plane just disappear?_ "What?" she finally whispered.

Mark shook his head. "I don't know. They took off and they didn't get to Spokane on time. There aren't any reports of crashes anywhere, though. So, that's good, right?" He didn't sound that convinced.

Callie's hand went instantly to the heart necklace hanging around her neck. She wrapped her fist around it as if for dear life. _This isn't happening. This can't be. She's got to be okay. She has to be._"What about small airports? Did they have to make an emergency landing?"

Mark sighed heavily. "The charter company has already contacted every airport from here to Spokane, including ones in Oregon and Canada. They didn't make it to any airport in the area."

"Search and rescue?" She could barely get the words out over the sob that threatened to erupt.

He nodded. "The park service has every one of their aircraft up and looking and they're calling in every agency and organization with aircraft in the state to help out. They're going to look until the storm hits and then they'll regroup again in the morning, if they don't find them tonight."

_The storm._ Callie suddenly felt seriously ill and it was all she could do to move across the room and grab the garbage can before vomiting everything she'd had to eat that day. It wasn't until she was wiping at her mouth that she realized Mark was rubbing her back gently. She stood up and looked up at him, bursting into tears as she fell into his arms. "I can't lose her, Mark. They have to find her."

"They will, Callie. They will."

Callie had no idea how long they stood there, because her brain seemed to shut down. She just couldn't think; it was too painful. Instead she just felt—felt the pain, the fear, and even the anger. After everything they'd been through, the future had seemed so bright, even with their fight that morning. But now, now it was just the same old pain that seemed to hit Callie like a brick wall. _I'm cursed. I don't know what I did, but I'm cursed._ She shook her head to chase away those thoughts and her mind instantly went to Arizona. _Arizona, please be okay. Please. Don't be scared or hurt or cold. Please, just be okay._

She took a few more moments to let the panic wash through her before taking a shuddering breath and pulling out of Mark's arms. She wiped the tears off her soaked cheeks and nodded, feeling some resolve come over her, even if she knew she was hanging on by the thinnest of threads. "Okay, so what's the game plan?"

Just the hint of a proud smile touched Mark's lips. "Teddy is coordinating with the state and federal agencies doing the search. She told Owen since Cristina was on board, he wasn't allowed to take the lead and he was surprisingly okay with that."

"Oh, God, Cristina. I forgot she went, too." Callie shook her head to keep a fresh wave of emotion from coming over her. Having one of her closest friends also be missing threatened to tip the balance back toward panic, but she willed herself to remain in control, if only for a few more moments. Freaking out would do no one any good, least of all herself. "Okay, what else?"

"Just that. Teddy took over the small conference room to coordinate contact with the authorities. They've promised to keep us informed on at least an hourly basis. Owen said you are obviously off the surgical board until further notice. And I'll get Sofia from daycare and take her as much as you want and need. We're all here for you and Owen, okay?" Mark put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "They'll be found." He started to say something but then seemed to stop.

"You were going to say, one way or another, right? Dead or alive?" She felt a tear build in the corner of her eye. "I'm not that naïve, Mark. If they crashed, they're likely at least hurt. And it could take days to find them. Days they might not have." Callie took a long breath and forced those dark thoughts away. "But I have faith that they'll survive. I can't imagine that God would be so cruel as to take two of the best surgeons on the West Coast, Hell probably in the country. They both have too many lives to save still." She laughed at the absurdity of it all. "Even if I may be cursed, He wouldn't be that cruel. They're too important to too many people."

Mark just nodded.

She stood up taller and took another steadying breath. "I'm going to go down to the chapel and make sure God knows that. Come find me if there's any news."

"Of course." He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. He then walked out of the lounge, leaving her alone.

Callie looked around the room, thinking of all the times the two of them had spent in there talking and laughing and just living their lives together. It made her heart ache and her resolve to stay calm disappeared in a rush. She suddenly felt like the air was sucked from her lungs and she crumpled to the floor, sobs starting to shake her body. She pulled herself into a ball and rocked back and forth. _She can't be dead. She can't be. I'd know. I'd feel it. I'd know. Right? Please, Arizona, please be okay. I need you. Sofia needs you. We can't live without you._


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Thin Line

Author: Kels

Pairing: Callie/Arizona

Rating: PG (for language and some adult themes, but nothing too explicit)

Timeline: This takes place sometime in the spring of the 8th (current as of this posting) season.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of them. Shonda and company do. I'm not making any money from this. I'm just causing them some emotional and potentially physical torment in order to enjoy the wonders that are drama and love. That's it. I'll put them back more or less in one piece when I'm done.

A/N: Being a diehard agnostic (is that even possible?), writing all the religious stuff was a little odd to say the least. But I was also Catholic while in college so I pulled in a little from that brief dalliance with the Almighty.

* * *

><p>Chapter Three<p>

Callie walked into the small chapel and was quite surprised that it was full of people—doctors, nurses, even a janitor who normally worked nights. They were spaced throughout, two or three to a pew, some sitting with their heads bent, some kneeling in prayer. These were her colleagues, some were even her friends, and she knew they were all here to pray for Arizona and Cristina. For the first time since that morning, as they laughed and cheered on little Sofia, she felt that things would be alright. She was still scared, terrified really, but the power of prayer and friendship restored that needed sense of hope in her. _They'll find you, Arizona, and bring you home to me. And you'll be okay. We'll be okay. Together._

She sat down on the last pew, nodding to the nurse that had been sitting there, before pulling the kneeler down and sliding onto it. She crossed herself, ending with a gentle kiss to her thumb. It was a motion she had done so often, for as long as she could remember, and it felt comforting. Even if she had not been as devout in her beliefs or practices since moving away from home, just that simple gesture brought it all back to her. It wasn't that her faith had grown less over the years; just her need to wear it on her sleeve had diminished. But even though she had left the trappings, and certainly much of the strict teachings, of the Catholic Church behind in Miami, there was still a sense of belonging and warmth in something as simple as crossing herself and stilling her mind to prayer. It reminded her that God was there, was everywhere really, and He would listen.

_Father, I know it's selfish of me to ask, but can You please bring Arizona home safe? And Cristina, too. I need Arizona. And so does Sofia. I've been amazed at the bond the two of them share; how every single time Arizona walks into the room, no matter what Sofia's mood is, that little smile forms and her eyes twinkle just because her mama is in the room. They're going to have such a special bond, but You need to bring her back to us so that Sofia can have that. She's already been through so much and she's not even one yet. Please, just give her her mama back._

A tear started streaking down her cheek and she reached up to wipe it away. She took a moment to pause, to breathe, to gather her thoughts. She had cried enough in the lounge, and she knew there would be more tears to shed, probably more than she'd ever shed before, but right now, right here, she wanted to remain calm. She needed that. It would help her remain hopeful that this was going to be over soon and Arizona would be back, and she would be safe, and everything would be alright once again.

But she still needed as much help as she could get. Callie thought about all the saints she could call on. There was Saint Luke, the patron saint of physicians. He would surely be someone who would watch over both Arizona and Cristina. And of course there was Saint Anthony, the patron saint of the lost. At a time like this, he definitely would be someone to ask for an intercession on their behalf. But, really, Callie had never been much of a fan of the saints and of the devotions to them. While they were supposed to be more personal ways to get to God, she had just never gotten into asking for their help. But right now, she really wanted a personal hand in her prayers, and suddenly she had an idea.

_Timothy, hey, are you up there? It's me, Callie. I guess I'm your sister-in-law now, huh? I'm sorry we never got to meet. Arizona's told me so much about you and she clearly loves you so very much. And I know she misses you and you probably miss her. But, could you please have some patience when it comes to a reunion? I mean time probably passes pretty quickly in Heaven, right? What's another fifty or sixty years? I know you want her to be happy, and I think I make her happy. I know Sofia does. And there's so much good for her to do down here still. So, do you think maybe you could ask the big guy upstairs if he can please help her out and make sure she's safe? And if you could make sure she knows she's not alone so she's not scared that would be amazing. She can be tough at times, but I think we both know she's fragile underneath, so she might need a little divine support, okay? Thanks. I owe you one._

Just the thought of Arizona's brother looking out for her made her smile, even if it was a smile tinged with worry and sadness. She crossed herself again and slid back onto the wooden pew before closing her eyes. She just let herself breathe for a moment. She needed that, because she knew she had to be centered before she called Arizona's parents. Telling them their only remaining child was missing would be hard and likely devastating, but she had to be the one to do it and soon. While right now it was only local news, it wouldn't be long before the national news picked up the story of the two doctors who went missing on their way to save a baby. And even so, it was what a spouse did and Arizona would want her to be the one to make the call. With a final deep breath she got up from the pew and walked out of the chapel, fishing her cellphone out of her scrubs as she did.

* * *

><p>Arizona's head hurt. A lot. <em>Well, I guess the good news is I'll know if my pulse rate changes by the pounding in my head.<em> It wasn't a particularly comforting thought, especially as she let her brain tumble over the various reasons she could expect her pulse to change. It had been maybe two hours since the crash and she'd had plenty of time to just think while Cristina had gathered snow to melt and found some red biohazard bags to tie to the plane's tail to increase their visibility from the air. The time had only served to make her more worried about her injuries and how she would survive the night, let alone the possibility of days waiting for rescue. If her brain was bleeding or she got an infection from either of her wounds, she wouldn't make it that long out here with only the most limited of supplies. Even with Cristina's skills at hand, there was little that could be done for either problem but wait it out and hope for the best. Or at least for things to be over swiftly. It was something that Arizona didn't want to think about, but the quiet and time left her little choice.

Still, she wasn't one to go down without a fight. It was in her blood, as her father had always told her as a child when he recounted the stories of his father's heroic actions at Pearl Harbor. _A Robbins always fights for what's right and never gives up._ How many times had she heard that as a child when she would come home frustrated about one thing or another? She'd lost count long ago and yet, at that moment, she was glad to have had it ingrained in her. She knew she had to do something to gain the upper hand over her injuries and give her the best chance to get home to her family.

While it was getting darker in the cabin as the day moved swiftly toward twilight and, she suspected, the cloud cover was increasing ahead of the storm that was moving toward them, there was still enough light to look at the foot of wood that stuck out of her arm. "You should probably pull it out," she finally said to Cristina.

"Huh? No. What if it hit the artery? I pull that out and you'll bleed out. You never remove an impaled object in the field. Isn't that what the medics are taught?" Cristina shook her head and snuggled further under her blanket. She had taken up residence in the last seat, across from Arizona so they could see each other and talk.

"It's going to get infected."

"I don't have any way to irrigate the wound. A little melted snow and the one bottle of betadine from the jump kit is probably not going to be sufficient to clean it out. And besides, we're almost out of bandages. There aren't even any trauma dressings left, just four by fours and we might need those for your head." Cristina shook her head in that way she had that made you know she felt she was superior in her reasoning and you were just being an ill-informed idiot. "They'll find us early tomorrow and you'll be fine. We'll get you to a hospital, they'll clean out the wound and stitch you up and you'll be just great."

Her tone really didn't give Arizona much confidence and neither did the throbbing in her arm. She reached over to touch the tender skin near the wound. "It's getting hot and sweaty, Cristina. You should do this while there's still light. And if I start to bleed out just put a tourniquet on it."

"Oh, right, so I can be the one responsible for you losing your arm? Callie would kill me." Cristina shook her head. "No."

"And what will Callie do to you if I die of infection? I'd rather be a one-armed pediatrician than a dead pediatric surgeon." As much as she didn't want to think of a future where she couldn't operate, there was so much more to her life now, so much she needed to go back to. "Cristina, please. I have a family and I need to be around for them. I need to grow old with Callie and watch Sofia grow up. I need to have more kids and grandkids. I need to live and I think this is the best course of action. The more you can clean out the wound, hopefully the less infection. We've got the betadine and we've got lots of snow."

Cristina obviously wavered for a moment before she shook her head. "I don't have a scalpel. How will I get in to irrigate if I only have the little hole the branch went through?"

"Just do your best." Arizona waited for a moment, but Cristina just continued to stare her down. "Please," she begged.

"Oh, alright. But I swear if you die, I'm gonna kill you."

Arizona laughed at the joke, glad for a little levity in their situation. She sat up and moved a little to the right so that she would be in the best light from the small cabin windows. The movement made her head swim for a second and she almost threw up again, but she managed to keep it down.

"This is really going to hurt," Cristina said without much sense of empathy. "Do you want me to go get some snow to help numb you?" She didn't wait for a reply as she started to get the items together she would need.

"No, the light's getting worse by the minute. We don't have time." The last time Cristina had ventured outside, she had been gone for almost a quarter of an hour. Most of that time had been spent maneuvering through all the branches in the cockpit so that she could climb out the broken front windshield. Unfortunately the cabin door had been damaged in the crash, so the cockpit was their only way in or out. That kind of time right now could mean the difference between finishing this with some natural light and being forced to rely on the penlight from the jump bag.

Cristina finished her preparations and handed Arizona the penlight. She looked up at Arizona with concern. "Are you really sure?"

"Yes." To be honest, she wasn't, but Arizona knew she had to be the brave one here.

It truly was the most painful thing Arizona had ever experienced. After using a shoe string to form a tourniquet, Cristina had doused the wound in some of the rust-colored betadine before going to work to pull the stick through her arm. Arizona screamed out and bit down so hard she actually chipped a molar. It felt like she could feel every millimeter of wood and bark as it slid across muscle, tissue, and bone on its journey through her arm. Finally, with one last yank, the branch pulled free and Arizona collapsed back at the relief from the excruciating pain.

But that was just the beginning. It was all she could do not to pull her arm away out of natural instinct as Cristina first tried to pull the skin apart to widen the wound and then used the melted snow she had previously collected for them as drinking water to wash out some little bits of bark and pine needles. At one point she sighed in relief. "It doesn't look like it hit the artery. So you probably won't have to be a one-armed pediatrician the rest of your life."

"Whew," Arizona said with an exaggerated sense of relief. But, really, she knew she was far from out of the woods. While having the wound cleaned and bandaged would reduce the risk of infection, it was still quite high. They were out in the middle of nowhere and she'd had a foreign body stuck in her arm for a few hours. But at that moment, she let herself feel the temporary sense of relief in knowing that the branch had at least not ripped through her brachial artery as she had feared.

It took Cristina a few more minutes to finish her work and then she split open a few packs of the gauze squares to hold to either side of Arizona's arm. Arizona had to help her hold the bandages in place while Cristina wrapped the last of their gauze roll around her arm firmly. "It's not pretty and you'll probably have a nasty scar if we don't get out of here soon, but hopefully it'll do the job."

"Scars are sexy," Arizona quipped.

"They are," Cristina agreed as she released the shoe string tourniquet and they looked at the bandages. Luckily only one showed any blood and it was just a small dime-sized circle that never spread further. "I never want to have to operate on someone without anesthesia again. I hated that you were in pain."

"Yeah, it was far from fun," Arizona said as she felt herself relax a little finally. The adrenaline that her body had provided to help her get through the pain was starting to dissipate and she knew she'd be falling asleep before long. "You better go refill the cooler before it gets dark. I'll need to stay hydrated and this little penlight isn't going to show you the way when it's pitch black out."

Arizona watched as Cristina took the light and the cooler and then disappeared through the curtain at the front of the cabin. She flopped back onto the floor, exhaustion starting to truly hit her. She felt flushed and she hoped that it was merely from the exertion she had just undergone. _Who knew that having a stick removed from your arm was such tough work?_ She took a few deep breaths and put her hands together over her stomach so that she could fiddle with her wedding ring. It grounded her and she let her mind wander to Callie, to various images of her wife that always brought a smile to her face—the lingerie birthday surprise, dancing in the apartment on their first date, waking up just that morning and making love before Sofia could disturb them, Callie's bright smile and those bright brown eyes that always seemed to see only Arizona whenever they were together.

As she drifted off to sleep, she smiled. _I'm coming back to you, Callie. Don't you worry. I'd give up my arm to come back to you. I'd give anything. Please don't worry about me and don't be afraid. I'm coming back to you. I love you._

* * *

><p>Callie stood in the freight elevator that went up to the helicopter pad on the roof. She had had the idea to go up to the roof, to catch her breath and have a moment away from the concerned eyes and whispers that had followed her through all the hospital corridors. There was fear and pity in many of those stolen glances and she needed to escape that negativity. Unlike in the chapel where she had felt some hope in the quiet presence of those gathered there, many of the colleagues she found on her walk through the halls clearly had already decided a tragedy had unfolded. But Callie wouldn't let herself believe that, wouldn't let herself be sucked in by that negativity, and so she had sought a refuge away from it all, if only for a few moments.<p>

She was still a floor away when her cellphone rang. She picked up, half dreading the call and half desperate to hear if it was good news. As she suspected, the caller ID indicated that it was Teddy. "Please tell me you have good news," she said as she answered the call.

Teddy sighed heavily and Callie's heart sank. "No, I don't. But I don't have bad news either."

Callie let out the smallest sigh of relief as the door opened onto the roof. She stepped out, taking a deep breath of the cold afternoon air. "Okay, I'll take that."

"I just spoke with Captain Yolanda White of the Park Police. She's coordinating the search. They've got planes coming in from all over the region to help. Canada is even looking on their side of the border." Teddy paused before saying, "But with the storm coming in, some of the planes have had to turn back. The planes from the east are going to continue to look until the storm moves in closer, though."

Callie looked out to the east, out in the direction she knew Arizona had flown earlier. _She's out there somewhere._ It was just clear enough to make out the shadowy outline of the mountains in the distance. She shook her head, not wanting to get lost in thought while she had Teddy on the phone. "What's their plan?"

Teddy's voice was very serious, almost too serious, but it sounded forced. "Right now the search is frantic and not well coordinated. Overnight they'll work out a better plan to cover the ground so nothing is missed. The storm should be well out of the area by the time the sun is up, so they'll get back in the air as soon as it's light. Captain White didn't have an estimate of how long it would take to fully cover the wilderness areas where they likely landed, but she should have one by tomorrow."

Callie let just the slightest smile touch her lips at Teddy's attempt to be positive by saying they had landed as opposed to crashing. While she wanted to be positive, even Callie had to admit that it was unlikely they had had a smooth landing on some miracle valley floor in the Cascades. She'd driven out that way once or twice and knew how rugged much of the mountain range was. While it wasn't impossible, it was unlikely that what had happened was more of a landing than a crash. "Okay, well let me know if you hear anything else. I'll be down to the conference room in a bit. I want to call Arizona's parents."

"I will. And Callie?" There was suddenly emotion in Teddy's voice.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry this is happening. And I hope Arizona's okay."

"Thanks, Teddy. I'll see you in a few." She turned the phone off and took another deep breath of cold air. It was incredibly cold for the middle of March, so cold that she knew the impending storm might bring snow to the city, and certainly out in the mountains. The white cloud cover was already overhead, coming in from the ocean and heading east. She looked off at the mountains again and could see hints of blue above them, which told her there was still time before the search would conclude for the day. But still, knowing that the snow would be hitting the mountains out to the east just as night was falling terrified her. It would be pitch black and freezing cold and Arizona would be out there without her. Her only comfort was knowing that Arizona would have Cristina and the pilot to keep her company through the night. Or at least Callie prayed that she did, that they had all survived whatever happened to their plane.

She wiped at a tear and looked down at her cellphone. She hesitated for a second, because she really didn't want to have to call Daniel and Barbara and give them the news, but she had to. A few taps of her thumb and the call was going through. She put the phone to her ear and started to pace around the helicopter pad.

"Hello?"

"Barbara, hi, it's Callie," she said, trying to keep her voice from sounding either too dark or light. She wasn't sure how it came across to be honest.

"Callie. Um, hi." Barbara's voice was hesitant.

_No wonder. When have I ever called them?_ Callie swallowed hard. "Is Daniel there?"

"No, he's off playing poker with some old Marine Corps buddies. Honey, what's wrong?"

Callie sighed. There was no sense in beating around the bush. "Arizona was flying to get a heart for a transplant, but her plane disappeared."

There was only silence on the other end of the phone.

"Barbara? Are you there?"

The voice that came back was quiet and shaky. "It disappeared? Did it crash?"

A tear started to fall down Callie's cheek. "Probably. There's been no sign, so everyone thinks they went down somewhere in the mountains."

"Oh, God," Barbara said before she audibly sobbed. "Not my little girl."

Callie felt a sudden need to almost defend Arizona, to stick up for her survival. "Barbara, listen, Arizona is strong. I believe she'll be okay. They'll find her and she'll be okay."

Callie waited while Barbara's sobs became quieter leading to a deep breath. "You're right, Callie. She'll be okay. Listen, I'm going to call Daniel and we'll be on the first plane out there that we can get. You call if there's any word."

"I will. Hopefully, she'll be here waiting when you get off the plane."

They exchanged a few more pleasantries that felt forced to Callie, but she figured the normalcy of the farewell and wishes for a safe trip helped them both feel like things would be okay.

When she hung up, Callie found herself dialing another number without even thinking about it. "Daddy?" she asked when the phone was answered.

"_Mija__, _what's wrong?"

That was when the tears returned. At that moment she wanted nothing more than to have him there so that he could wrap his arms around her, just as he had so often when she was a child and she had woken with a nightmare or come home from school after being made fun of. Everything had always been alright when her father was there. "Daddy, I need you."

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any of them. Shonda and company do. I'm not making any money from this. I'm just causing them some emotional and potentially physical torment in order to enjoy the wonders that are drama and love. That's it. I'll put them back more or less in one piece when I'm done.

**A/N: I'm not a doctor (I am an EMT but that just means I know enough to hopefully not kill you while driving you in my big red and white taxi to the hospital). I don't pretend to really know anything about the medical stuff in this or future chapters. I blame all errors on the internet. It's a dangerous place to get medical information but it's all I have.**

**And, yes, Callie is emotional normally, but a person can only stay super emotional for short periods of time. So, she kind of goes in and out of hysterics while Arizona is missing. I kind of like to think she'd try to keep it together. Whether she's always successful is another matter entirely :)**

* * *

><p>Chapter Four<p>

It had been a long night, a really long sleepless night. Callie had wandered the halls of the hospital, trying to keep herself busy, to distract herself from the bouts of terror and pain that would overwhelm her at times, but nothing had helped. She had driven Teddy up a wall with her constant badgering for information, even after the search had been called off for the night and Callie knew full well there was little new that could possibly be coming in from the search and rescue teams. She had burst into tears when Owen had found her and wrapped his arms around her, being the strong one even though she knew he was hurting and terrified about Cristina. She had even spent a good twenty minutes first pounding old casting material into powder and then beating on Mark's chest when he tried to stop her, until finally all the fight had left her in an exhausted heap. And yet she couldn't sleep, no matter how many times she went into an on call room and tried. There were too many fears, too many nightmares waiting for her when she closed her eyes. Exhaustion was easier and so she continued to wander aimlessly around the hospital looking for some way to get through the next hour, the next minute, until dawn came and the search could continue. Once that happened, she'd have hope again, hope that at any minute word would come in that they'd been found.

She finally wandered into the attendings' locker room. She just wanted to freshen up a little, maybe take a shower, so that when Arizona was found and brought to the hospital, she wouldn't look like death warmed over. She had fully intended to walk in, gather her toiletries and a fresh change of scrubs, and then go use the shower, but instead she found herself standing in front of Arizona's cubby, just staring at the items scattered around the table top of Arizona's space. It was all so familiar and normal, like Arizona would walk through the door at any moment and come over to brush out her hair or put on some lip gloss. _She will_, she told herself. _Later today, they'll be found, and she'll come in here to get her things before we head home. It'll all be a distant memory before long__._

And yet she found herself opening the long closet to the right of the mirror and pulling out the sweater Arizona had worn the previous morning. She put the material to her face and drew in the scent, that distinctive smell of vanilla and lavender that could both comfort and arouse. _God, Arizona, I miss you__._

Callie didn't realize she had started crying until she heard a voice and had trouble focusing on the small woman next to her. She wiped at the tears and sniffled loudly. "Bailey."

"Do you want to be alone?"

Callie sat down on the bench and felt herself just deflate. "I could be in the middle of a million people and I'd be alone right now."

Bailey joined her on the bench and waited a few moments while Callie regrouped herself. "There's nothing I can tell you that will make this any better."

"No, there isn't." If there was one thing that Callie always appreciated about Bailey, it was that she didn't beat around the bush. Sometimes it was good to have someone there with a dose of reality, who wasn't just going to placate you and tell you what you wanted to hear. Callie suddenly felt another flood of dread and tears and it was all she could do to keep from crumbling. "What if she's dead?" It was the first time she had let herself say that out loud.

Bailey took a deep breath and nodded slightly. "If she's dead, then there's nothing you can do but grieve and miss her. I can't pretend to know how hard that will be for you. I know it'll be hell, harder than anything you've ever gone through."

Callie wiped at the tears that were falling heavily again. "I'm not sure I'll survive that."

Bailey put her hands on Callie's shoulders and turned her so they were looking squarely at each other. "Calliope Torres, you listen to me. Until you know otherwise, you believe that Arizona is alive. You believe that, because that is what will get you through. You believe that, because you have a daughter who needs you to be strong. And you believe that, because you are a hot mess, and if Arizona comes walking through that door right now, you will look like a fool, okay?"

This brought a small snort of laughter to Callie as she wiped at her tears. "Okay, you have a point." She took a deep breath and wiped the moisture from her cheeks. "You're right. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. It's all I can do, right?"

"Right. Now put her sweater away before you ruin that beautiful cashmere with all your tears and go get yourself cleaned up. Mark told me to tell you he was leaving for the airport to pick up your father. They should be back in an hour."

Callie looked down at the soft blue sweater, the one she had bought Arizona for Christmas because it had matched her eyes, and nodded, knowing that Bailey was right and she needed to get herself together. She put the sweater back and turned to look at Bailey. "Thank you. And if you see me going crazy again, I give you permission to kick my ass."

"Anytime, Torres. Anytime."

* * *

><p><em>A young girl who was maybe six or seven, blonde-haired and blue-eyed, stood in the doorway, her hands defiantly on her hips, as she looked out on the large backyard. Outside another girl, maybe a year or two older, with black hair and big brown eyes, mirrored her body language as she stared back at the younger girl. "No," the younger girl screamed.<em>

_The older girl sighed heavily. "You need to come outside."_

"_I don't want to," the younger girl said petulantly. "I can't," she said, her voice softer, more fearful._

"_What are you afraid of?" The older girl's demeanor changed, it was less confrontational, more caring. "Come out into the sun. Please."_

_The blonde girl shook her head. "I'm not supposed to be here. I shouldn't be here."_

_The older girl came over so that they were standing only a few inches from each other. "I need you. I don't want to be alone. You should be here. You really should."_

_The younger girl turned away. "No, don't make me. You're fine. You'll be just fine."_

"_Please," the older girl pleaded softly. "Please come into the light. Please be here for me." Tears started to fall down her cheeks._

_The younger girl turned back. "What if I'm not good enough?"_

_The older girl held out her hand. "No one's really good enough. We just do the best we can."_

"_And what if I just don't want to?"_

_There was a look of disappointment in the dark brown eyes. "I'll miss you." She turned and walked away, her small shoulders slumped and defeated._

Arizona woke up, breathing hard with her heart pounding in her chest. It was pitch black where she was, and it took her a moment to remember that she was in the plane wreckage. _Damn, I wish the crash had been the dream._

She moved to sit up, but just that movement made her head swim and a fresh wave of nausea hit her. She collapsed back onto the floor and just took a few deep gulps of air to wait for the nausea to subside. When she felt like she wasn't going to be sick, she relaxed and tried to take stock of how she was feeling. She reached her hand up to her head and gently probed over the bandage covering her laceration. It was sore, of course, but the bandage did not feel damp or crusted with blood, so that was a positive. She reached down to the skin just below the bandage and put her palm to her forehead. The skin there felt a little damp, but it was hard to tell the temperature of her own skin. Finally, she reached over to the wound on her arm. There the skin to either side of the bandage definitely felt hot and it was tender, even away from the wound. _Shit. It's getting infected._

"Cristina?" Her voice sounded rough and strained so she cleared her throat. "Cristina, wake up."

"What?" There was rustling and banging for a few seconds before Christina's voice came across the dark again. "Arizona, are you okay?"

"My arm. I'm pretty sure it's getting infected." She wasn't sure what they could do about it, but wanted at least a second set of eyes on the situation.

"Okay," Cristina said as the small penlight went on over in the seats where Cristina had been sleeping. The resident made her way over to Arizona and knelt down beside her. She took the penlight and used it to illuminate the bandages on Arizona's arm. When she reached out to touch the skin by the bandage, Arizona flinched in pain.

"Yeah, that hurts." Now that there was light, it was easy to see that the skin on either side of the bandage was red and a little swollen. The inflamed area already stretched about half an inch to either side. "Do I feel like I have a fever?"

Cristina's hand went up to Arizona's forehead, then moved to her cheeks and finally down to her neck. "You're pretty warm." Arizona then reached down and put two fingers to Arizona's wrist, checking her pulse. "Your pulse is racing."

"Lovely." Arizona's biggest fear had been that one of her wounds would get infected and that the infection would turn into full blown sepsis. And if that was what she was actually facing, she knew she could be in real trouble. "I guess our timeline for rescue just got shorter, huh?"

Cristina reached back and used the paper cup they'd found to dip out some water from the melted snow in the cooler. She held it out to Arizona. "You need to stay hydrated. When the sun comes up, we'll get a better look at your wounds and see what we can do to clean them out. It's just too dark right now."

Arizona took a drink from the tepid water and then sighed. "Yeah, we need to save the penlight. What time is it?"

Cristina used the penlight to look down at her watch. "It's six thirty. The sun should be up soon. Why don't you see if you can sleep a bit more in the meantime?"

Arizona nodded as she shivered, suddenly feeling cold. She smiled as Cristina helped her get settled under the blanket. "You, too. We need you to be as strong as possible."

"Right," Cristina said as she turned the penlight off, leaving the passenger cabin in darkness. "Wake me up if you need me."

"Will do," Arizona said as she felt sleep starting to pull at her again. It only took a few seconds before she was asleep again, her mind returning to a scene of a little blonde girl staring out at a backyard.

* * *

><p>Callie was pacing in the lounge, her eyes shooting to the door every few seconds. Mark had left over an hour ago to pick her father up at the airport, and she was anxiously awaiting their arrival. Word had come in from Arizona's parents that they were delayed in Chicago while the storm raced across the country, but her father's flight had managed to skirt the southern edge and had arrived in Seattle as planned. If Callie was being honest, she was glad it wasn't the other way around. She really needed her father right then. It had been an incredibly long night, but now that the sun was coming up and the search would soon continue, she knew she could be receiving news soon. And she wanted her father there, just in case.<p>

As if on cue, the door to the lounge opened and Mark came in, followed by her father. "Daddy," she said as she went over to fall into his arms. "Thank you for coming."

Carlos held her tightly. "I'll always be here for you, Calliope." He pulled back from their embrace and wiped a tear that had fallen to her cheek. "_Mija_, I'm so sorry this is happening."

Callie nodded and was about to say something when she looked over her father's shoulder to find her mother standing in the doorway of the lounge. Callie straightened and took a step back from her father. "I don't want you here," she said to her mother, acid coming through in her voice.

Her mother didn't answer. Instead it was her father's calm voice that broke the thick silence. "Calliope, give her a chance. I think it'll really help."

Callie's temper flared as she looked over at her father in disbelief. "Right now? Seriously? Dad, do you really think I need to hear from someone who thinks I'm going to Hell for loving the woman who is currently missing? Really?" She looked at her mother. "Now is not the time for this, so you can go get on a plane right back to Miami. I don't need you here right now."

"Calliope, I—"

Callie put her hand up to silence her mother. "No. I said I don't want you here. You said I'd go to Hell for loving Arizona and guess what, Mom? You were right. I'm in Hell right now. So just leave." She turned her back and closed her eyes, feeling anger and pain and the steady pull of exhaustion all threaten to crush her.

"Carlos, I'll go to the hotel. Let me know what is going on," her mother finally said, sounding sad and deflated.

Her father came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Calliope, I know this is a bad time, a horrifically bad time, but she just wanted to help. She's actually had a change of heart and was going to come out and see you soon anyway. She just wants to be here for her little girl."

Callie turned back around to her father and wiped at the tears clouding her vision. "Now is not the time, Dad. I can't talk about this all with her while Arizona is…is…" She couldn't continue. Instead she just fell into his arms again, the sobs starting to wrack her body as Carlos wrapped her up in his embrace.

* * *

><p>Cristina looked over at Arizona and couldn't pretend she wasn't getting worse. She was pale, sweaty, and was burning up. <em>I should have put a tourniquet on that arm last night when it started getting inflamed. Now the infection has really spread. Damn, why did I wait?<em> Cristina went over and knelt down beside the pediatric surgeon. "Arizona?"

Glassy eyes looked up at her. "She doesn't want to go outside," Arizona said quietly.

"What?" Cristina's brow furrowed as she reached down to check Arizona's pulse. It was well over 100 beats per minute and didn't feel quite as strong as the last time she'd checked.

"The girl. The blonde girl." She sounded frustrated. "I don't know why she doesn't want to go outside, but she doesn't. Why doesn't she want to go outside?"

"I don't know." Cristina leaned over Arizona and waited until the blonde's eyes seemed to clear and focus on her. "I need to go outside and check to see if our red bag is still hanging on to the plane tail. I might also see if I can find some branches to spell out help or something. I'll get some snow while I'm there, because we're almost out. Are you going to be okay while I'm gone?"

Arizona nodded. "I'll have to be, won't I?"

Cristina smiled and then started to turn to leave when Arizona's hand reached out to grab her. She turned back. "What?"

"If I don't make it, let Callie know I fought hard, okay? That I wanted to make it back to her and Sofia, that I fought as hard as I could. And tell her I love her and the last thing I thought about was her, because I know it will be." There was desperation in Arizona's voice. There was also a hint of resignation that scared Cristina.

"You're not going to die, Arizona, you got that?"

"Tell her."

Cristina looked at Arizona and knew in that moment that things were getting bad quickly. Arizona must have felt it, that she was slipping away. Cristina had read enough journals on dying and seen more than a few patients who were on their deathbed to understand that Arizona wasn't just speaking out of fear. She was feeling herself start to slip down the path. "I will, but only if you live up to that. You better keep fighting, to the last second, because we could be rescued any minute now. You fight hard, harder than you've ever fought for anything before."

"Promise," Arizona said, but her voice sounded weaker still. "Now go get me some water. I'm thirsty," she finally said with a weary smile.

Cristina sighed heavily. She worried about Arizona's condition, but she knew they needed water. And she needed to see if their red "flag" was still flying off the tail. With the extra snow that had fallen, the plane was now likely under a thin blanket of white that would make it near impossible to see from the sky without it. With one last concerned look at Arizona, she grabbed the cooler and then went through the long process of picking her way past the tree in the cockpit to get outside.

When she got out, she was met with a world of white, with just the green peeking out from the trees and a few gray rocks to break up the almost impossible brightness of fresh fallen snow under a bright sunny sky. She turned and was relieved to see the red bag still attached to the tail of the plane, although with the lack of wind it was hanging limply and would be less likely to be seen. But now with the threat of a storm gone, Cristina decided to take the bag down and use some rocks to stake it out in the open where it might be more obvious to someone flying overhead.

It took her only a few minutes to get the bag down and find a spot out away from the edge of the trees to put out the beacon. She found enough rocks to weigh it down so that it wouldn't blow away and even found two large branches that she laid out in a big X on top of it. "Marks the spot," she said to herself when she was done. She looked up into the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand, and scanned around, hoping to see aircraft looking for them, but the sky was empty for as far as she could see. "Come on. Find us," she cried out.

She then turned to head back to the plane only to stop dead. About twenty feet away, directly between her and the plane, was a large brown bear standing on its hind legs staring directly at her.

"Oh, shit."

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry this took a while. Kept going back and forth about whether to have the Callie/Lucia talk here or later. I figured later works better. So good news is I have it written :) Next chapter should be up by the end of the week. I won't leave you all (or for that matter Cristina) hanging for too long.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you all for your comments. I truly appreciate every last review.

Yes, EMTs are awesome. We rock :) But still doesn't mean I know much about medicine!

Sorry this took a little while longer than I'd hoped. I had a little writer's block since there's a lot of action and not a lot of emotional times. Mostly it's hard to deal with Callie's emotional roller coaster. God she's a hot mess trying to be hopeful. It's hard to sustain that! And we're not done yet...eep!

* * *

><p>Chapter Five<p>

"Oh shit."

Cristina stared at the bear, her heart pounding in her chest. She tried to remember what she should do in this sort of situation, but her brain seemed to seize up and all she could do was stand there. _Do I run? No, that's dumb; it'll catch me and eat me. Or at least use me as a chew toy. Either way I'm toast. What the hell do I do?_Her brain tried to remember something, anything, that she had read about bear attacks that might help out. She seemed to remember something about talking to the bear, to let it know you were human. "Good bear. I bet if you go away, you'll find something nice to eat. Maybe some fish in a stream or a nice…" She couldn't even think of what a bear would eat. "Rabbit maybe. Rabbit's yummy."

The bear dropped down on to all four paws and looked off to its right, like it was considering leaving. _Please, just go__. _But then it looked back at her and started to move in her direction with slow, deliberate steps. _Shit, now what? Play dead! That's your only hope. The trees are too far away. Just play dead._ She dropped to the ground and rolled herself into a ball, holding her head under her arms. _Please go away. Please go away._

Time seemed to stop as she stayed there and waited. She could hear the animal's breathing and the crunch of snow under its paws as it continued to slowly approach her. _Stay quiet, Cristina. Whatever you do, don't make a noise__._

For a moment, the bear seemed to stop and she took a quick peek to see what it was doing. It was pacing back and forth maybe 100 feet away, its eyes never leaving her. Suddenly it stopped and lifted its head, as if trying to catch a scent. _Please, just go away. Go find some other food. I'm skinny and probably don't taste very good._

The bear looked at her again, obviously ignoring whatever it was it had smelled. For a long few seconds it didn't move, and then suddenly it was charging at her. She pulled herself into a deep ball and screamed uncontrollably as she waited for it to reach her. _Shit! I don't want to die! Shit!_

She heard it getting closer, its breath fast and heavy, the snow crunching loud under its paws. And then it seemed to stop maybe twenty feet away and go back to its pacing. When she took another quick look, it seemed agitated as it stared at her. Then it suddenly stopped and looked off down the hill.

At first she wasn't sure what she was hearing, since her heart was still pounding in her hears, but when she strained she could have sworn she heard what sounded like a motor off in the distance but getting closer. She waited, hoping it would continue to approach, and was relieved as the sound kept getting louder. Finally she heard the motor stop not that far away and a man yell out. "Stay still."

She could hear the man's feet squeak in the snow as he approached her. When he was nearby, he suddenly started yelling at the bear, "Get away you big brown lump. Go! There's other food out in the woods. Just go away." Then he just started screaming unintelligibly, but very loudly as he continued to approach her.

_He's nuts. He's going to get us both killed. Eaten by a bear. What a dumb ass way to go. I survived operating with a gun to my head for Christ's sake. Hell, I survived a plane crash and now I'm going to get eaten by a bear. Way to go mountain man for coming along and pissing off the bear that's going to eat us both__._ She finally got so frustrated at the thought that the man was irritating the bear that she rolled toward him. "Would you just shut up?" she yelled.

"You can get up now," the man said, his voice now softer.

Cristina looked up at him and saw a young man, maybe in his mid-twenties, dressed in jeans and a dark green army jacket and carrying a shot gun. He was wearing a very self-satisfied grin on his weather-beaten face. She looked from him back to where the bear had been, but only saw paw marks in the snow that seemed to lead off to her left. She scrambled to her feet and waited for the man to come a little closer. "Wait, that worked? Yelling worked? I talked to it and it just came closer, so then I thought you were supposed to play dead."

The man shrugged, "Playing dead only works if they're attacking you. Bears are usually pretty chicken shit if you yell at them. Well, and you don't have food on you. He was just out looking for breakfast is all. There's easier pickings in these woods. Probably tastier, too."

"Thank you for chasing it off."

"It's nothing. I had Betsy here in case he'd charged." He held up his shotgun. He looked her up and down and frowned. "What are you doing out here?"

"Our plane crashed. The pilot died and we crashed." She pointed over toward the trees to where the broken branches and the outline of the tail just hinted at the plane that was mostly hidden in the foliage. "My friend is hurt. Can you get us out of here or at least go get help?"

"I can probably get you both out on my ATV if your friend can sit up." He looked back at the four-wheeler that was parked a little down the hill. "Where is this friend of yours?"

"She's in the plane still. She's got an injury that's infected and it's getting pretty bad." Cristina looked down at the ATV. "Can you drive that up next to the plane and then help me get her out? I think she'll be able to sit up if I help her."

"Sure thing." He went down and got on the ATV. He drove it up to her and let her climb on so that he could drive it the rest of the way up the hill until they were parked next to the plane. As they climbed off, he whistled. "Wow, that pilot got you down pretty good. I'm impressed."

"Not the pilot. My friend, Arizona. The pilot was already dead." She looked at the plane. "We have to go through the front windshield. The side door is jammed."

It took them a few minutes to climb back through all the branches; as they went they introduced themselves to each other. She found out their rescuer was named Zach and he owned a small cabin just outside the national park border that he used for hunting trips. He had been out hunting fox and rabbit when he'd seen her and the bear off in the distance and had come to investigate. He hadn't heard anything about a plane going down, but then again he said he didn't have even a radio at his hunting cabin.

Finally they made it into the cabin. "Arizona?" she called out as they moved into the small space.

"Yeah?" Her voice sounded a little stronger than earlier and that was a relief.

"Help is here, Arizona. We're getting out of here." When they made it to the back of the cabin she smiled down at the pediatric surgeon. "Seems our knight in shining armor drives a four-wheeler."

Zach chuckled as he came around Cristina to kneel down next to Arizona. "I hear you're the real hero here. Nice to meet you Arizona. I'm Zach."

"We're getting out of here?"

Cristina smiled the first genuine smile in about a day. "You bet. See, I told you I wouldn't need to give your message to Callie." Cristina knelt down beside Arizona and quickly assessed her wounds and pulse. She sighed. "We're going to need your help to get out of the plane, but I'm a little worried about your condition. So, I want you to promise me that you'll let us know if you are feeling sick or like you're going to pass out, okay? No being brave."

"Promise."

It took them what felt like forever to get Arizona out of the plane. She was weak and Zach had to practically carry her through the tangle of limbs in the cockpit, but finally they got her out and onto the back of the ATV. Zach looked at Cristina and said, "You get on behind her and keep her upright. It's going to be a tight fit for all three of us. And we've got at least a thirty minute ride."

"We'll manage."

Cristina climbed on behind Arizona while Zach hopped on in front. It was a tight squeeze and Cristina had to dig her fists into the back of Zach's jacket to hold on, but they fit. "Okay, here we go," Zach said over his shoulder as he started up the engine.

Cristina leaned in to Arizona's ear and said over the engine, "You hold on. Don't you stop fighting now. You'll be home to your family before you know it."

* * *

><p>"Callie!"<p>

She turned to see Arizona's parents walking toward her. They both looked tired and worried and it was obvious that Barbara had been crying recently. Callie put a hesitant smile on her face, one she didn't quite feel but knew she needed to wear to boost their spirits. "Hi. I'm glad you both made it."

"There's still no news?" Daniel was all business, as she suspected he'd be.

"No." The fake smile faded and was replaced by a worried frown. "I just saw Teddy a few minutes ago. She's coordinating with search and rescue and she said they haven't seen anything yet. But the search is still ramping up and planes and helicopters are being added all the time."

Daniel nodded. "Where's the command set up? I'd like to see what is going on."

"Daniel, please, they've got it under control," Barbara pleaded with him.

Callie let out a long breath to try to keep from getting frustrated. It was bad enough that she had to worry about her own feelings, but now she had to worry about Arizona's parents as well. "Let's go find Teddy. She'll be able to bring you up to speed."

She led them down to the conference room, not making any effort at small talk as they went. Finally, they came to the room and she held the door open for them.

"I was just about to page you," Teddy said as they walked in.

"There's news?" Callie's heart started pounding as she looked at Teddy and then around to her father and Owen, who were both standing in the room anxiously looking at Teddy.

"There is news and it's cautiously optimistic. Please, everyone, sit down."

Callie felt butterflies start to bounce around in her stomach at the prospect of finally getting some news, and positive news at that. She needed something to hold on to, something to buoy the hope she'd been trying to rely on, but that had all too often been fleeting. But there was still worry at Teddy's qualification that it was only cautiously optimistic. Still, what else did she have at this point? She took a seat at the conference table and looked up at Teddy.

"One of the larger search planes seems to have found their plane. They reported seeing something red in the snow with an X on it. They flew as low as they could and saw what they thought was the plane under some trees. But there was no sign of anyone around the wreckage."

"So someone survived," Daniel stated the obvious.

Teddy nodded. "And as Captain White pointed out, that marker had to be put out after the storm or it would have been covered with snow, so someone was alive and outside of the plane this morning. But she found it odd that no one came out when they heard a plane flying overhead."

Callie frowned, not understanding how that could happen. It wasn't that late in the morning. They would have had to put the marker out just shortly before the plane flew over. "It makes no sense that they'd put out a marker and then leave the site. Maybe they really couldn't hear the plane? If they were inside the plane…" She didn't want to think that something might have happened in the time between putting out the marker and the fly over. It seemed much more likely that they just couldn't hear.

Owen shook his head, worry still tightening his features. "Those larger planes are usually HC-130s or something along those lines. None of those planes are exactly quiet. They should have heard it."

"But someone was able to put out that marker this morning. That means someone survived," Barbara added, her voice overly optimistic.

Carlos was the next to pipe in. "So, what are they doing now? Are they going back to investigate?"

Teddy nodded. "They're sending a helicopter in. It's already on the way to the site. Captain White said she expects to have a report from the crew in fifteen or twenty minutes tops."

Callie's heart was pounding. She wasn't sure she could sit around and wait these last minutes to find out more. She stood up suddenly, unable to sit anymore, and went over to the window, staring out at the light snow on the ground. _You're alive. I know you're alive. Please, please, be alive and be home soon. I need you, Arizona._

* * *

><p>When Zach pulled up to the small cabin, Cristina was so relieved. Arizona had seemed more and more listless as they travelled and in the last few minutes she had been almost incoherent and limp. It was all Cristina could do to keep her upright as they drove down the last few miles of logging road toward Zach's cabin.<p>

Cristina quickly hopped off the ATV and looked at Arizona. She was pale, very pale, and her skin was damp with sweat. Her breathing was shallow and quick and it only took the lightest of touches to her wrist to feel her heart was racing. She looked up at Zach, "She's not doing well."

Zach looked over at his pickup truck. "We'll put her in the back. There's a doctor in the next town. And we can call for a medevac from there."

Cristina nodded. "I'll ride in the back with her."

Zach gently took Arizona and placed her over his shoulder. He pulled the gate down on the back of his pickup truck and put her on the edge. Arizona cried out in pain as she was laid down on the cold metal floor. "No, please," she said and then moaned before seeming to lose consciousness again.

Cristina climbed up and helped Zach pull her fully into the bed of the truck. When Arizona was settled, he started to move around to the cab only to stop and look at Cristina. "These roads are rough. Do you want speed or care?"

Cristina looked at Arizona and felt her stomach knot up in fear. She had that look Cristina had seen so often when patients were really on their last legs. "Speed. Just make sure we don't bounce out of the back. A little pain might help remind her body to keep working." As Zach got into the truck she looked down at Arizona and dug her knuckles into her shoulder, trying to wake her up with pain. "Arizona, you stay with me. We're heading home. Do you hear me? We're heading home. You just have to stay with me a little while longer."

"Home?" Arizona whispered, almost inaudibly over the revving of the Ford's engine.

"Yes, home. You'll be seeing Callie and Sofia in a little bit, okay? You just have to fight for a little while longer. Fight hard." Cristina sat down as the truck lurched off. She reached over and took Arizona's right hand in her own, holding it tight. _Don't you die on me now. We're so close. Just a little while longer._

* * *

><p>Callie jumped when Teddy's phone rang. It had been almost half an hour since the last call and every second had been torture. Now she sat on the edge of her seat, with her father's hand holding hers tightly. She watched as Teddy listened intently for a few moments before beginning to ask questions.<p>

"Can the helicopter get low enough to track that or will it have to be done on foot?" There was another pause as Teddy listened. "You're sure those tracks weren't near the plane?" Finally, Teddy nodded and said, "We'll be waiting for the next report." She hung up the phone and looked around to everyone gathered in the room. "The search team found the pilot's body in the plane's wreckage but no one else was there. There were some bear tracks down near the marker, but they didn't seem to go near the plane. And more importantly there were ATV tracks. It looks like someone found them and took them from the plane. The tracks were heading toward the east and there are a few small towns in that general direction once you make it out of the park boundaries."

Callie sighed in huge relief and felt like tears were going to spring to her eyes. _They're alive. They have to be. They left the pilot behind because he was dead. They're alive and on their way home._ The adrenaline that coursed through her made her shake. "Are they going to follow the ATV tracks or just wait for someone to contact the authorities?"

"Captain White said they are going to try to track it from the air, but it might be hard. It's a pretty rugged area and they might lose the trail. But hopefully whoever picked them up will be calling in soon when they get them to civilization." Teddy smiled broadly as she looked from Owen to Callie. "I think it sounds like your wives will be home sooner rather than later."

Owen's voice still sounded tense when he spoke up. "Did she say anything else? Were there signs of any injuries? How badly was the plane damaged?"

Callie's excitement was tempered slightly by Owen's line of questioning. She had to remember they still didn't know if either of them was hurt. Things could still be bad. Any doctor would know that simple truth. Until Arizona was back safe and sound, Callie had to remember to be only cautiously optimistic. It was incredibly hard, but she needed to try.

"The plane was damaged in the crash, but not too heavily. She said a tree was through the front windshield and it looked like the pilot was killed by a branch that impaled his chest. Captain Smith did mention some blood and vomit in the passenger cabin, so it looks like someone might have been hurt, but it's hard to say for sure."

Callie turned to her father and let a hopeful smile touch her lips. "It still sounds like they'll be home soon. It would be a miracle if that plane crashed and they weren't at least a little banged up, right? If they could ride out on an ATV, they can't be too bad off." Her smile grew as she was more and more convinced that things were going to be okay, caution be damned. "They're coming home. She's coming home."

* * *

><p>Cristina shook Arizona as the pickup came to a screeching halt in front of a non-descript log cabin in the middle of what Cristina would hardly call a village. "Arizona? Are you with me?" She felt for a pulse and could barely feel one. "Arizona!" As she heard the truck door open, she called out, "Zach, we need help now!"<p>

Zach opened the tail gate of the truck and quickly pulled Arizona's limp body into his arms. He didn't even wait for Cristina before he turned and ran into the small building. "Help, I've got an emergency," he cried as he went through the door.

Cristina scrambled out of the truck and ran in after. When she came in, Zach was placing Arizona on the one medical bed in the plain room. An older man was looking her over. Cristina ran over to him and started feeling for a pulse on the wrist on Arizona's good arm. "I'm a surgeon," she told him. "She's got sepsis from that wound in her arm, I'm sure of it. We need to get her blood pressure up. It's gotta be tanking."

The man nodded as he went to a small cabinet on the side of the room. "I'm Doctor Henderson." He pulled out an IV pack and handed it to Cristina. She turned to place the IV in Arizona's good arm, but then stopped. "We'll need this arm for a BP," she said to herself as she moved to place the IV in Arizona's left lower leg.

Dr. Henderson brought over a bag of saline and placed it on the table next to her. "Zach, call 911 while we try to stabilize her," he said as he pulled out a blood pressure cuff. He went to her good arm and wrapped it around her bicep.

Cristina went into full trauma mode as she finished the IV and hooked up the saline. She looked around the room, trying to see what else she could use to help the situation. Her eyes fell on some bandages and gauze sitting on the side table. She went over and grabbed a handful before returning to Arizona and starting to remove the bandage on her arm. She needed to see how bad the wound had gotten. In the background, she barely heard Zach, but he seemed to be relaying their location to someone on the other end of the phone. She looked up when she heard the other doctor say, "BP is 72 over 58."

Cristina did a quick calculation in her head. "Her pulse pressure is low. She's likely got decreased cardiac output. We need to get her BP up or she's going to crash sooner than later. Do you have a heart monitor?"

"No, this is just a really small office. We send all our cardiac patients to the hospital."

"Okay," Cristina said as she finished peeling away the bandage, wincing at the mangled flesh and yellowish puss of infection that she found underneath. She called over her shoulder to Zach, "Tell them we need a medevac out of here and we need it yesterday."

Cristina looked down at Arizona. She was pale and sweaty and Cristina could feel the heat rising off her without even touching her. She grabbed the other doctor's stethoscope from around his neck and put it in her own ears. She listened first to Arizona's racing heart and then to the wheezing breath sounds that were coming from her lungs. She looked at Dr. Henderson, "Do you have any medications here that might be helpful? Any dopamine? Corticosteroids? Antibiotics? Anything? We need to get her started on something, anything, that will get her stabilized."

Dr. Henderson looked like a deer in headlights for a moment, or maybe that was what he looked like when he was thinking, but time seemed to tick by slowly as he just stood there. Finally, he nodded. "I think I have some dopamine." He went back to his cabinet and started digging around, finally reaching out with a small vial and a syringe in his hand.

Cristina took it and measured out the dosage before slipping the needle into the IV. She went over to Arizona's good arm and pumped up the blood pressure cuff that was still there. Without an electronic monitor, they would need to take frequent blood pressure readings or she would bottom out with no warning.

As she finished listening for the blood pressure, satisfied that the reading was still close to what it was a few minutes ago, Zach came over. "They're sending a helicopter. It should be here in about ten to fifteen minutes."

"Thanks. We'll just keep doing what we're doing until they get here. Is there somewhere nearby they can land or will we have to drive her somewhere?"

Doctor Henderson answered. "I have a big backyard. We've landed helicopters there in the past when we've needed to fly someone out."

"Good. Okay, ten to fifteen minutes." Cristina looked down at Arizona. _I hope you have that long__._


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry this took a while. I've been a little sick plus working longer hours than normal.

I hope to have the next chapter up by Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. But if I don't, I can't promise I'll have anything out until the 27th, because I'm leaving Thursday for Christmas and may not have any internet access other than my phone. On the plus side, I should have time to write while I'm gone, so when I get back I should be able to post quite a bit relatively quickly.

**Medical Note: One thing I love about GA is that it doesn't dumb down the medicine. So at one point I have Teddy write down a bunch of vital signs in short hand. If you want to decipher them, scroll down to the A/N at the end. I give a rundown of what they all mean. **

* * *

><p>Chapter Six<p>

Callie paced in the conference room, her eyes darting over to Teddy's cellphone. _Ring, dammit. Ring!_

Mark walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "It'll be okay. Why don't you just take a seat? The phone will ring soon."

Callie turned to him. "This waiting is killing me. I just want to see her." Her voice cracked. "I need to see her, Mark."

Mark wrapped her up in a bear hug and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Robbins will be here before you know it and you'll be able to hold her and then yell at her for scaring the shit out of you."

That made Callie chuckle despite herself. "You know I will," she said into his chest.

They stood there for a few moments before the sound of Teddy's cellphone ringing caused Callie to jump. She looked over to Teddy, watching her for any reaction as she spoke.

"Oh thank God," Teddy said, relief showing on her face. "Wait, what? Do you know who?" Now she was sitting ramrod straight in her chair, a crinkle of worry splitting her brow. "Did he say anything else?" She paused, listening as she looked up at everyone staring at her and held up a hand to let them know to wait with their questions. "Okay, can you pass on to the medevac crew to call us on the med radio when they are on their way?"

Callie could feel her heart pounding again. Teddy's body language made it clear that someone was hurt, maybe critically so. _Please, God, don't let it be Arizona._ She stopped when she realized what she had been asking. _Damn, no, then that means Cristina may be hurt. Shit! Okay, please God, no matter who is hurt, just don't let it be too bad._

Teddy hung up and looked around at them. "A man called 911 and said he'd found two women from a plane crash. He brought them to a doctor in a nearby town. One of them is hurt and has a bad infection. She's not doing well. That's all Communications knows. They didn't have a description to let us know who it is. A medevac is just landing there now and they'll be bringing them both here since we're the closest level one trauma center anyway. We need to get down to the ER so we can have access to the med radio."

Callie felt like the wind was knocked out of her. _One of them is hurt and has a bad infection._ She repeated those words over and over in her head. She had gone back and forth between hope and terror so many times in the last day and now she was being tossed back toward the side of terror once again. She wasn't sure how much more of this emotional roller coaster she could take.

"Are you coming?"

Mark's voice drew her out of her thoughts and she looked around to find Owen heading out of the conference room door, leaving only her, Mark, her father, and Arizona's parents. She nodded and then looked at the non-doctors in the room. "It's probably best if you all stay here. You can't be down in the ER anyway. We'll make sure to let you know when we know something."

"I'll make sure of it," Mark added as he started to walk toward the door.

Callie looked at her father, who nodded supportively, and then she took off after Mark.

* * *

><p>As Callie ran over to the desk in the ER, she had to push through a throng of nurses and doctors to get to where Teddy and Owen were standing, eyes glued to the green telephone that was their hookup to the state's medical radio system. Teddy's eyes never left the phone even as she was giving orders to Kepner. "Get an OR prepped. I want CT clear in case we need it. Go ahead and get as much type specific blood as we have for both of them. If there is an infection we're going to need to be ready for a possible lavage, so order the antibiotics for that as well. Page Webber, Bailey, and Shepherd and have them ready to go. Whatever fifth years are available should be ready to scrub in, too. We'll need—"<p>

The phone rang and Teddy had it in her hand before the second ring. "Go for Seattle Grace Mercy West Emergency." She waited for a moment and then added. "Yes I read you loud and clear."

Teddy sat down in the office chair at the desk and pulled over a pen and pad of paper. "Oh God," she whispered as her eyes flicked up to take in Callie. "Let me talk to Dr. Yang."

_It's Arizona._ _Oh, God, please no. She needs to be okay. I need her. I can't lose her._ Her body started to shake as she fought the need to fight this, to run, scream, do anything but be there just waiting for more bad news to come over the phone. If Mark hadn't wrapped his arms around her from behind, she felt like she would have exploded from all the emotions warring within her.

"You'll get through this," he whispered into her ear. "Arizona is going to need you to be strong. We're all here for you, but you have to keep it together."

Callie nodded, feeling her body relax just enough where she could think and breathe again. "Be strong," she told herself as she took a deep breath and wiped at the tears that trailed down her cheeks. "Be strong for Arizona." She knew she needed to keep her emotions under control, at least for the foreseeable future. _She's going to need you to be levelheaded. Keep it together._ Now feeling a little more in control of her emotions, even if that control was tentative at best, she turned back to Teddy and focused on what she was saying and the notes she was jotting down on her notepad.

Teddy wrote down _58/42_ and Callie felt her mouth go dry. Arizona's pressure was low, not impossibly low, but far from ideal. Teddy continued to listen and write so that everyone could see: _GCS 5, P 122 VT, RR38, SaO2 92%, Temp 103.2. _Callie's heart dropped further with each vital sign. It was bad, really bad. From those numbers alone, Callie knew that Arizona was incredibly sick, and if any one of those vital signs worsened, she might not survive for long. Teddy finally said, "We'll meet you when you land. Just do what you can, Cristina. Keep her alive and we'll take it from there."

Teddy hung up and looked up at Callie again. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. She then looked around at the crowd gathered at the desk. "The only doctors on the team are those I mentioned earlier plus Dr. Hunt and Dr. Sloan. Everyone else get back to work." She gave them all a glare as she got up from the chair. Once the area was more cleared, she turned to the few doctors remaining. "Owen, you're going to take the lead, right?"

He nodded, his business-like tone both familiar and oddly comforting to Callie. "Okay, Teddy and I will go up to the pad and do a rapid assessment." He turned to Kepner, who was standing to the side with a phone to her ear. "I want everyone else scrubbing in immediately. If she seems stabile enough, we'll run her to CT, but with those vitals I'm more inclined to think we'll need surgical interventions to stabilize her first." He looked around at the small group still standing at the desk. "Okay, now move."

Mark grabbed Callie's arm and said, "I'll pass the word to her parents and your dad on my way. You go with Teddy and Owen."

She nodded to him but stayed rooted to the spot, her body feeling like lead. She watched as Teddy and Owen hurried off toward the elevators. _Come on, Callie, you need to move. You need to go with them._ It took another moment, but then her body was suddenly moving before she could even think. She ran to catch up with Teddy and Owen, who were holding the elevator doors for her. "I just want to see her then I'll stay out of your way, I promise. But I'm going to be in the gallery."

Owen nodded as he punched the button that would bring them to the roof and then swiped his ID along the sensor to authorize the elevator to travel that far. "That's fine. But no matter what, you stay out of the OR, okay? It's bad enough you'll be watching us like a hawk."

"Okay." She felt like she was going to jump out of her skin as she watched the lights slowly illuminate each floor that they passed. _It'll be okay. Our friends are the best surgeons anywhere. It'll be okay. It'll be okay._ As they passed the last floor, her heart started pounding harder in anticipation of seeing Arizona. She looked at Teddy, tears stinging at her eyes. "It will be okay, right?"

Teddy's expression was drawn with worry. "We'll do our best. I promise you, we'll do our best."

* * *

><p>"Keep it together, Callie. Just keep it together," Callie whispered to herself as she watched the helicopter approach, but her body was not exactly listening to her. "Don't get too emotional. You need to stay strong. Just stay strong."<p>

Her heart started pounding harder as the skids of the helicopter touched down on the landing pad. The blades were still spinning, causing the wind to blow heavily and keep them back. But as the blades slowed, the side door of the helicopter slid open and first the medic and then Cristina jumped out. _Cristina looks like hell._ She didn't spend more than a second considering that as she followed Owen and Teddy toward the helicopter, her eyes searching the helicopter trying to catch a glimpse of Arizona, but all she could see was a blanket and some machines that blocked her view.

As they approached, the medic ran around to the back of the helicopter and opened the rear doors, motioning for Owen to bring the gurney over. Callie followed, staying back because she knew the space to the rear of the helicopter was cramped, especially with the danger of the rotors still slowly spinning. She moved to the side and watched as they slid the basket out of the helicopter. When Arizona's head was finally visible, Callie felt instantly sick at how motionless she was. _Oh, God, Arizona._

When they rolled her away from the helicopter, Callie ran over and looked down at Arizona's face. She was pale, white in fact, except for the deep dark circles under her eyes. Her face was covered in sweat and Callie could see she was breathing fast and shallow into the oxygen mask over her mouth. As they started pushing her toward the elevator, Callie leaned down by Arizona's ear and said, "Arizona, I'm here. You made it home. You did. You made it home. You keep fighting, okay? You'll make it as long as you keep fighting. Sofia and I love you." She reached up and gently ran her finger over Arizona's cheek. She was burning up.

As they entered the elevator and the doors shut, there was finally enough quiet that the team could start talking. Cristina looked up at Owen and shared a quick smile with him before she returned to her normal stoic surgeon persona. "Her blood pressure's been fluctuating. She's maxed out on dopamine and we started with vasopressors." She held up a few tubes of blood. "I drew some blood so we can run tests and see what kind of infection we're dealing with. She had a branch impaled in her arm when we crashed. I removed it, but there was no real way to irrigate the wound." She looked up at Callie. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

Callie spared a moment to look over at Cristina and forced a smile that she didn't really feel. "I know you did all you could," she said. She then looked at Owen and Teddy. "You guys just save her. Whatever you have to do, just save her. Please." She returned her gaze primarily to Arizona, but looked up at the other doctors with quick glances as they began to discuss Arizona's condition. She needed to see their expressions to truly understand how they felt her wife was doing.

Teddy gave her a reassuring nod before putting her stethoscope in her ears and listening to Arizona's heart. She frowned as she moved it to her lungs and then down to her stomach. "Her lungs are really congested and I don't hear any bowel sounds. I think we have to assume peritonitis and septic shock."

Owen looked at the flight medic's heart monitor and frowned. He looked over at Cristina. "How sure are you that she doesn't have a brain injury? I'm not sure we have time for a CT, but if she's got a hematoma…"

"Her delirium is consistent with the worsening sepsis symptoms. She might have had a concussion, but if she had a serious hematoma, she'd be dead already." Cristina looked down at Arizona and then back up at Owen. "I think you need to treat the infection and then see if she has a bleed. Have Shepherd standing by just in case, but you have to work the priorities here."

The door to the elevator finally opened on the OR floor. They pushed the gurney out of the elevator and were met by a small team of nurses who took up positions around them to push it into the OR. Callie looked around, panic starting to take over at the thought that Arizona was going to be wheeled away and she wouldn't be able to go with her. She quickly leaned down and kissed Arizona gently on the forehead. "I love you, Arizona. I'll be waiting for you when you get out. You stay strong. I love you."

"Okay, let's get going," Owen said as the team pushed the gurney away, leaving Callie standing there by herself.

"Stay strong," she whispered in the sudden quiet. She wasn't sure whether she was saying it to Arizona or to herself.

* * *

><p>"No, you can't scrub in," Owen said as he stood in the door to the scrub room.<p>

"Owen, she's my patient. I want to be in there." Cristina looked over Owen's shoulder and through the glass to see the team bringing the gurney into the OR. "I know what she's been through."

"You're exhausted, Cristina. You've given me the highlights and we can handle it. Just go get a shower and something to eat. I know I can't forbid you from being in the gallery, but you need to take care of yourself, too." He voice softened as he pulled her into his embrace. "Please, I can't worry about you right now. I've got my hands kind of full."

"Fine," Cristina said, with less bite than she intended, as she pulled out of the hug. She took a deep breath and then felt an incredible wave of exhaustion hit her. The last day had been so emotional and draining and now she was safe, but she knew she couldn't truly rest just yet. As much as she didn't want to, she had to admit that Owen was right and she needed to take a few minutes to pull herself together or she would drop, no matter how stubborn she was determined to be.

When Owen disappeared into the scrub room, she ran to the locker room and grabbed a fresh set of scrubs. She then took the fastest shower she'd ever taken, changed into the fresh clothing, grabbed an apple and a bottle of water from the fridge in the locker room, and then ran back to the OR gallery. When she entered the room overlooking the OR, she found Callie sitting perched on the edge of her seat, her body rigid with tension. Karev, who was seated in the back row, was the only other person in the gallery and he looked up at her with a warm smile. She tried to return it, but her face just wasn't cooperating. She looked down into the OR and saw that Bailey was just making an incision in Arizona's stomach while Mark was already working on the incision in her scalp.

Cristina went over and sat next to Callie. "She's strong, Callie," she offered quietly. "If anyone can survive this, it'll be Arizona."

Callie didn't turn toward Cristina. Her eyes were riveted on what was going on below them in the OR. But she did nod. "She has too much to live for." Callie wiped at her eyes and took a deep breath. "What happened? How did you crash? How did she get hurt and you didn't?"

Cristina took a deep breath and looked at Callie. There was just a hint of accusation in Callie's question, but Cristina let it go. She knew the stress Callie had to be under, and she couldn't blame her for that type of reaction. "She got hurt because she's a hero. It's incredibly corny to say, probably especially from me, but she's my hero. The pilot was dead and we would have crashed nose first into a mountain, but she jumped into the co-pilot's seat and somehow got us down in almost one piece. If it wasn't for that damned tree that came through the cockpit windshield, she'd probably be pretty much fine." Cristina returned her eyes to the surgery below as she continued to recount the tale of the crash and their night in the wreckage. She continued through the story of the bear and their rescue by Zach. The bear at least made Callie smile briefly. Cristina finished her story with the village doctor and their flight to Seattle. The one piece she skipped was the message Arizona had given for Callie. She didn't want her to think Arizona was giving up or that she had thought she was dying. Callie didn't need that. Finally, she looked back at Callie and noticed moisture on her cheeks from tears that had been shed during her tale. "She saved our lives, Callie. She saved my life and I'll always be grateful."

Callie let out a soft humorless puff of laughter. "She hates to fly. Really hates it. I can't believe she jumped in like that." She looked at Cristina and gave her a genuine smile, even if it was tinged with sadness. "I'm glad you're alright. And thank you, thank you so much for saving her life. She might have saved yours at first, but you definitely returned the favor and then some."

"Anytime," she said as she returned her attention to what was happening in the room below.

The operation only took about two hours. In that time, Bailey and Webber rinsed Arizona's abdominal cavity with saline and high dosage antibiotics. At the same time, Mark worked first on the laceration to Arizona's scalp and then helped clean out her arm wound and debrided some of the dead blackened tissue around the injury site. Listening to the doctors speak during the operation, it was pretty clear they were worried they might have to perform these actions again to make sure they really knocked out the infection that was ravaging Arizona's body. While the operation was only a stop gap and she would need a great deal of antibiotics to finish killing the infection that was coursing through her blood, her vitals remained steady, although not particularly strong, throughout the procedure.

When the team finished their work, Callie let out a huge sigh of relief and turned to her. "I know you're tired, but can I ask you a favor?"

"Anything."

"Can you go talk with her parents? I think it would help them to hear what happened to their daughter. You can answer their questions. To be honest, I only remember bits and pieces of what you said. Between all the stress and lack of sleep, I'm really not that coherent right now. I'm the last person who should probably tell them what you said. And besides, I just want to go sit with her."

"Yeah, sure. Anything. If you need anything else, just ask. Okay?"

"Thanks." Callie stood up and started to move toward the door. She stopped and turned back to Cristina. "You saved her life, Cristina. I owe you everything. Absolutely everything." She smiled and then she turned to leave.

"No problem," Cristina answered after she left.

* * *

><p>Callie stood outside Arizona's room in ICU and waited while Owen and Teddy finished up with Arizona, but she wasn't watching them at all. She was just watching Arizona breathe, even if it was the ventilator that was forcing the air in and out of her lungs. <em>She looks better. Her color is better and she just looks healthier. <em>She forced her eyes to the monitors hanging over Arizona's bed and was relieved to see all her vitals were better than before the surgery. They still weren't what she would call normal, not by a long shot, but they were improving. And knowing how much stress her body had been under and how much infection still had to be in her system, it was about as positive a sign as she could hope for.

Teddy and Owen walked out and came over to her. Owen was the one to give her the report. "She's stable for now. We're going to keep her sedated for a day or two at least. We need to give her body time to fight off the infection. She's got some pneumonia and her white blood cell counts were through the roof before the surgery. For now we've got her on broad spectrum antibiotics, but after we get some more test results we'll try to refocus that treatment. I'd rather not take her back into surgery for the sepsis if we can avoid it, but her arm is going to need some work eventually. Mark can continue the debridement outside of the OR for now and we'll do the more serious repair work when she's healthier. We still don't know for sure if she has a brain injury. I don't think she's stable enough to undergo a CT, at least not until her BP is a little higher, but so far her intracranial pressure is normal so I feel okay with waiting a few hours for the definitive imagery. My biggest worry is organ failure at this point, so we'll just watch everything closely. If she doesn't start producing urine soon, we might consider dialysis to help out her kidneys. But, all in all, I think she's doing about as well as I could hope. She's not out of the woods yet, but I think she has a really good chance to pull though."

"Thank you both," Callie said quietly, feeling better after hearing the report. She knew their friends were some of the best surgeons in the country, and she really valued their medical opinions. And while the news was far from good, she was someone who believed that knowing what you were confronting was half the battle. "I'm going to sit with her for a while."

"I'll have them bring in a cot. You're going to need some sleep and I know you won't leave her," Teddy said as she gently put a hand on Callie's shoulder. "Mark said to tell you that he'll keep Sofia. I'm going to go check on your father and Arizona's parents. Do you want me to tell them anything for you?"

Callie forced her mind to think rationally for a second. "Can you tell my father to go back to the hotel and get some rest? I'll give him a call later. And can you bring Arizona's parents up in a little while, maybe half an hour or so? I want a little time alone with her, but they need to see her, too. I'm sure they won't leave and get any rest until they see for themselves that she's alive."

"Okay," Teddy said as she rubbed Callie's arm supportively. "I'll let them know how she's doing and kill some time before bringing them up." She smiled and then she and Owen left.

Callie entered Arizona's room and slid the door shut. She then pulled the guest chair over to the side of Arizona's bed and sat down. "Hey, you. You gave me quite a scare, you know?" She took Arizona's right hand in hers, careful not to dislodge the pulse oximetry sensor. She leaned down and pressed her lips to the back of her hand and sighed quietly. "Your fever's down a little. That's good."

She could feel tears welling in her eyes but she tried to keep control. "I was terrified, so terrified. I didn't know where you were or if you were hurt or scared. You know how well I deal with that kind of stuff, so I'm sure you can imagine the basket case that I was. I think it was officially the worst night of my life." She felt her control start to crumble and the tears started to fall. "I need you to get better, Arizona. I need you. I can't imagine my life without you." That was when the sobs came and she dropped her head down onto Arizona's shoulder, needing to feel that sense of refuge from all the troubles of the world that Arizona always provided her. "Don't leave me. Please," she gulped out between the shuddering sobs.

After a few moments the sobs turned to simple tears. She kept her head on Arizona's shoulder and ran her hand up and down her wife's arm in a soothing motion. Before long, her eyes closed and the exhaustion that adrenaline and fear had kept at bay overtook her as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>AN: Here's the key to Arizona's vitals…let me repeat again that I'm so not a doctor, nurse, or even a full-fledged paramedic, but I do deal with vital signs as an EMT, so I know just enough about this stuff to make me dangerous :) I think these are relatively believable based on that experience and my research of sepsis.

58/42 – blood pressure; normal is closer to 120/80, so yeah that's pretty low; low blood pressure (hypotension) is one sign of sepsis.

GCS 5 – Glascow Coma Scale (how conscious you are). A 3 is completely unconscious and a 15 is completely alert so a 5 basically means you react a little to painful stimuli but that's about it; reduced levels of consciousness (especially the delirium Arizona showed the last few chapters) is one sign of sepsis or a possible head injury.

P 122 VT – Pulse 122 Ventricular Tachycardia; Normal pulse is around 80 per minute, anything over 100 is tachycardia; VT is an arrhythmia that can end up being life threatening; tachycardia is another sign of sepsis

RR38 – Respiratory Rate, normal is around 18-20 per minute; one of the signs of sepsis is fast breathing (tachypnea).

SaO2 92% - Oxygen saturation in your blood. 100% is ideal. Below 92% is when the cells in your body start to get starved for oxygen. She's got pneumonia on top of the sepsis, so she's not moving air as well, hence the low saturation level.

Temp 103.2 – I think you all know this one. She's burning up with fever thanks to the raging infection she's got going.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I wanted to get this up and it's not quite as polished as I wanted, but I'm heading out of town for a family emergency. I'll be in an internet-less locale through early next week at least, so there won't be any updates until at least next Tuesday, but depending on how things go it could be longer. I promise to get some writing done while I'm gone though, so I'll have something to post when I get back to civilization.

But I will be able to read my reviews on my phone, so leave me plenty, please :)

So glad a lot of you enjoyed my vitals geek out last chapter. It's been fun to do research and use what limited medical knowledge I have in this story.

This ended up being a lot longer than planned, but we needed a little dose of Arizona, plus some humor. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

><p>Chapter Seven<p>

Callie's eyes blinked open and it took her a moment to orient herself. Waking up with her head on Arizona's shoulder was certainly familiar, but the rhythmic hiss of the ventilator and the steady beep of the heart monitor threw her for a loop until it all came flooding back. With a deep breath she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Did I wake you?"

Callie jumped at the voice. Standing on the other side of the bed was Arizona's father. "Daniel. I'm sorry. I fell asleep."

"You were tired. I'm sure you needed it."

Callie looked around the room and her brow furrowed. "Where's Barbara?"

Daniel looked back out toward the hallway. "She was here, but she couldn't stay. It was too much to see Arizona like this. Mark took her down to the daycare center to see Sofia." He looked back down at Arizona. "Dr. Altman said she is stable for now."

Callie's eyes quickly flicked to the monitors over the bed and she let out a sigh of relief. Her vitals had improved a little more while she had been sleeping. "She's doing better. She's strong. I know she'll pull through." She looked back down at Arizona and smiled. Her color was better and she looked peaceful. In fact, if she didn't have the intubation tube sticking out of her mouth or the bandage on her head, Callie would have thought she was simply sleeping.

Daniel moved a little closer to the bed and reached out to touch Arizona's hair. "We named her well. She's got a lot of her grandfather in her."

Callie looked back up at him, slightly surprised by the emotion he was showing. Arizona always painted the picture of a man who had once been affectionate when she was a child, but who had become so much more withdrawn since her brother's death. She had always said that when she was younger, he had been a Marine outside their home, but a really caring and loving father with them in private. But after Timothy had been killed, she had seen how her father had become a Marine full time, never letting his emotions show. But here he stood, tears welling in his eyes and emotion choking his voice, and Callie couldn't help but smile slightly. _I wish you were awake to see this. _

Daniel's eyes never left Arizona's face as he continued to speak. "When I was maybe ten or eleven, my grandparents came to visit. I didn't get to see them much when I was young, so it was a real treat. Having them around was when I got to learn more about my father. My mother told me stories, but my grandfather seemed to know what a little boy wanted to hear about his father." He took a deep breath, as if gathering himself. "He and I were looking at the shadow box with my father's medals. In the middle was the commendation that came with his Navy Cross." He spared Callie a momentary glance. "That's the highest award the Navy can bestow. Only the Medal of Honor is higher."

He looked back down at Arizona, but his eyes seemed to take on a far off cloud. "The citation says that my father exhibited extraordinary heroism when his ship was attacked. I was always struck by those words, 'extraordinary heroism'. And my grandfather asked me if I knew what that meant. I said something about my father being brave and having saved nineteen men. After all, that was how everyone always told the story." He smiled slightly as he again ran his hand through Arizona's blonde strands. "My grandfather didn't disagree, but he asked me what it meant to be brave. I remember thinking that was a dumb question because it was so obvious. I said something about not having any fear and charging into battle to save men. That's what brave people in movies do, right? That's what my father did."

Daniel chuckled quietly. "I was a naïve little boy. My grandfather told me that I was wrong. He told me that being fearless and being brave are not the same thing. In fact, he said that the only time you can be truly brave is when you are afraid, terrified really, and yet you do what is right despite that fear. And then he told me something no one had ever told me about my father. My father, who had enlisted in the Marine Corps the day he turned 18 so that he could follow in the long line of Robbins men who had served since before the Civil War, hated ships, hated the water in fact. He hadn't even learned to swim until the summer before." A proud smile grew on his face. "I think that was what my grandfather was most proud of, that his son had overcome his fears because he wanted to serve."

"Arizona did the same thing," Callie whispered as she instantly understood why Daniel was telling this story. "She hates to fly, but she does it because it's part of her job. She needs to be the one to retrieve the organs she's going to transplant. It's part of being a great surgeon. And being a surgeon is how she serves."

Daniel nodded and puffed out his chest in pride. "And that's why her name fits her so well. She's always been like that, feeling fear so intensely and yet finding a way to overcome it, although not without some tears and hard work. I remember when she was eight and we had a new next door neighbor. They had this big dog and she was so afraid of it. She would run into the house crying whenever the dog was in their backyard and started barking. It got so bad she didn't want to go out back and play. But Timothy would be back there shooting hoops, and she would stand on the back porch and look at her brother playing and you could tell how much she wanted to go back there, but she was too afraid." He smiled fondly at the memory. "One day, I was in the kitchen and looked out the back window and she was out there, tears streaming down her face, as she slowly walked up to the fence to our neighbor's yard. She went over and talked to that mutt. Her whole little body was shaking, but she stood there and talked to it until it stopped barking. I still don't know how she got that dog to shut its trap. And before you knew it, she and that dog were fast friends. She had wanted to play in the yard with her brother and she knew she had to make peace with that dog first. It wasn't easy, but she did."

Callie let out a soft chuckle at the thought of a little eight-year-old Arizona talking the dog down while crying hysterically. It reminded her of the times she'd seen Arizona have to confront Webber when he was chief. Arizona always swore it was a complex about confront authority figures, but Callie knew there was at least a hint of fear at play as well. "It must have really been a sight to see."

"It really was." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small medal. It had a blue and white ribbon and the medal itself was a cross made of almost a black metal. He looked down at it and shook his head slightly. "I don't know why I grabbed this on my way out of the house. We were in a hurry to get to the airport, but I ran over to the shadow box and pulled this out. I haven't held it since Timothy's funeral. I always thought I'd give it to him someday, after he'd returned from war with his own stories of running into the fray to save his men. I almost buried it with him in fact, but something held me back." He placed it on the pillow next to Arizona's head. "Maybe I knew I'd need to give it to her someday. Timothy was everything a Marine should be, but I'm not so sure how truly brave he was. That boy never had any real fear. He was too full of confidence in himself. But Arizona, well, she's brave."

Callie smiled proudly at Arizona and nodded. "She is. She puts on a good front, and she does what's right, even when she's terrified. She doesn't always succeed, but when it really counts, she manages. It's one of the things I love most about her. "

They both stood there silently for a few moments before Daniel leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Arizona's forehead. He then turned to Callie and said, "I'm going to go find Barbara and head back to the hotel. Your father got us a room at the same place he and your mother are staying. We've both had a long night and we're not as young as we once were. It takes its toll. You'll call if there's any change, right?"

"Of course. You go rest. I've got both of your cellphone numbers and I promise I'll call you this evening to give you an update even if there isn't much change. But first you two need to get a few hours of sleep. Doctor's orders." Her eyes fell on the cot that now took up the far wall. _I must have been sound asleep to not hear them bring that in._ "I'm going to try to get a little sleep myself. But I won't leave her alone."

Daniel smiled and then turned to leave. When he got to the door, he turned back to her. "I'm glad she found you, Callie."

A bright smile broke through at that. "I'm glad she found me, too."

He nodded to her and then, with a parting glance to his daughter, he left. Callie smiled at his back, feeling a new connection to her father-in-law. She turned back to Arizona and scooted her chair a little closer, so that she could lean down by her wife's ear. "He really isn't as mean and tough as you'd think, huh? Maybe he's getting a little of that affectionate dad back in his old age." She reached out and gently stroked Arizona's cheek. "And he's right. You are brave. You're brave and strong and you're my hero. Seems like you're always coming to some damsel-in-distress's aid—me in Joe's bathroom, Cristina on the plane. You, Arizona Robbins, are a big brave hero." She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

She then thought back to Daniel saying he was glad that Arizona had found her. "He doesn't know the real story of how you found me, does he? Because, really, Colonel Robbins probably would not approve of his daughter kissing random women in dirty bar bathrooms, even if they turned out to be who you got married to." She laughed again as she laid her head down next to Arizona's. "My hero," she sighed contentedly as her eyes fluttered closed once again.

* * *

><p><em>Arizona's eyes opened to a sight she hadn't seen in almost twenty years. She looked around at the pale sky blue walls covered in posters and awards and her brow furrowed. "This is my room in Quantico." She turned around, taking in the double bed with the tattered quilt, her desk stacked high with text books, and the big stereo system that she had gotten as a gift when she graduated middle school. "What the hell?"<em>

"_It's been a while, huh?"_

_The man's voice behind her made her jump, more so at the familiarity of it than at the surprise that someone else was there. As she turned, her eyes went wide. "Timothy?"_

"_In the…" He laughed and a small smile broke out on his face. "Okay, maybe not in the flesh, but yeah, it's me."_

_She could barely believe her eyes. There he stood, looking just as he had that last day he was home before he left for Iraq. He was wearing his fatigues with his new captain bars and his hair was short from a recent trip to the barbers. While the image was one that was burned into her brain, it was the impish grin and the twinkling blue eyes that she was most familiar with. He bit at his lip, in that way he always did when he was trying to hold back his emotions. "So, how have you been? I see you got married and had a kid. Not too shabby."_

_She looked around, a panic starting to rise in her. "Am I dead? Because you're dead, so if I'm seeing you, I must be dead. Or dying. And I am so not ready to be dead. I mean, no offense, but I've got things to do. And most importantly I've got my family. I can't leave them."_

"_Whoa, slow down. I see you haven't lost your love of the rambling monologue when you're emotional." Timothy shook his head. "No, you're not dead and you're not dying, at least not right now. I can't promise that won't change, but rumor has it that it's not your time. You're just really unconscious."_

"_Really unconscious? You can't be really unconscious. I mean you can be slightly unconscious, but you kind of get to a point where you either are unconscious or you aren't." She realized she was rambling again and that it was the excitement at seeing her brother, as well as the fear at what it might mean, that was fueling it. "Sorry," she said with a quiet laugh. "Yeah I do still do the rambling thing…"_

"_Same old Arizona." He moved over to lean up against her desk, crossing his feet and his arms as he watched her intently._

"_God, Timothy, I miss you," she said to him as she took a step toward him, wanting nothing more than to wrap her arms around him._

_He held up his hand to stop her. "Sorry, no touching. It's one of the rules. And I miss you too, Ari. I'm sorry I wasn't able to stick around." He smiled just a little. "I did dance at your wedding, though. I even got all my afterlife soldier buddies to join in on the chicken dance."_

_That made Arizona laugh. "You didn't."_

"_I so did. I told you I would dance at your wedding. I couldn't be there, but I did dance." His smile grew. "You were a beautiful bride." He then let out a quiet whistle. "And that wife of yours is smoking hot. You did well Ari."_

_Arizona joined his laughter. "She is definitely hot." She then got a little more serious. "Can you really see everything that's going on? Because really that's kind of creepy. And just a little disturbing. I might never have sex again if my dead relatives can watch. I mean just the thought of Nana and Pop Pop… Yeah, that's beyond disturbing."_

_Timothy laughed lightly. "Don't worry, it doesn't work like that. We can see some things, the important things mostly, but I really can't explain how it works in detail. But I promise you none of us are being peeping toms. There are definitely rules. In fact I'm stretching them pretty big time right now by being here."_

_Arizona nodded with a slight smile, her curiosity piqued. "I suppose those rules say you can't tell me if there's a God or a heaven or anything like that either, huh?"_

_He made a motion like he was zipping up his lip and then locking it shut. "I'm sworn to secrecy."_

"_Damn," she muttered. She smiled at him, feeling for just a short moment like they were back in high school, sitting in her room talking about the cute girls on the field hockey team or complaining about their parents. That playful, easy banter they always had with one another just came back so naturally. But before she knew it she was reminded of Timothy's loss in her life, and a sense of melancholy overcame that easiness. "It's not right that you aren't there. You were gone too soon. You never got to meet your niece or be an uncle. Sofia would have loved you so much."_

"_Yes, I did die too soon." He shrugged. "But I went the way I wanted to, doing what I loved and what was right." He then smiled and said, "But me being dead is not why I arranged this. I wanted to tell you something."_

_Arizona's brow furrowed. "Okay, what gives?"_

_Timothy suddenly seemed agitated. "I can't stay long. I should have already gone, but I need to let you know. Don't shut out the possibilities because you're afraid. You need to take risks, Arizona, or you'll miss out on the best things life has to offer."_

"_Can you be a bit more specific? Why are you being so cryptic?"_

_He laughed quietly. "The rules, Arizona. The rules. But you're smart. You'll figure it out."_

_She groaned in frustration and closed her eyes for a moment to take a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, the room was empty. "'Timothy?"_

"_My time is up," his voice said from somewhere distant, as if it blew in on the wind. "I love you, Ari."_

_Tears stung at her eyes when she realized her fleeting time with her brother was done. "I love you, too." She wiped at her eyes, but her vision became more and more cloudy. It took her a moment to realize it wasn't tears that was affecting her eyesight. The light in her childhood bedroom was starting to fade faster and faster until she was finally surrounded by darkness. And then the darkness started to seep into her mind, until she was finally pulled completely into the blackness._

* * *

><p>"Hey, Torres, wake up."<p>

Callie rubbed at her eyes and blinked at the sound of Mark's voice. "Don't wanna," she mumbled. It took a moment for her brain to engage and then her eyes blinked and she shot up, her gaze instantly going first to Arizona and then to the monitors above her bed. She let out a breath of relief when she saw that all her vitals were good and still improving. She finally looked over to where Mark was standing in the door to Arizona's room, leaning up against the glass panel. "I was having a good dream, Mark. Is there some reason you wanted to interrupt it?"

Mark got that look on his face like he was amused by a thought and he opened his mouth to speak but then obviously thought better. "Not the time for inappropriate jokes," he said quietly to himself. His face then got a little more serious. "They're going to take Arizona to CT in a few minutes and I figured you'd rather be awake then suddenly have your pillow ripped out from underneath you." He pushed off the doorway and entered the room. "I also thought you could probably use some food. Why don't we go down to the cafeteria while she's in CT. I mean, when was the last time you ate?"

Callie tried to remember, but really wasn't sure. She shook her head. "I don't know, breakfast yesterday maybe." She looked up at the clock on the wall, her eyes going wide. "So, um, almost 36 hours ago."

"We're going to get you some food. Robbins would never forgive me if she knew I let you starve."

Callie rolled her eyes. "It's not your job to take care of me, Mark."

"No, it's her job," he said with a lift of his chin in Arizona's direction. "But while she's a little under the weather, your best friend will just have to take up that mantle, okay?"

"Okay," Callie said with an overly dramatic tone of defeat in her voice. She then smiled at him, "Is Sofia still in daycare or did one of her grandparents kidnap her?"

"Nope, she's down playing with her new boyfriend. That Norris kid is trouble." His eyes twinkled with amusement. "What do you say we swing by, break the two of them up, and do a little kidnapping of our own? We can take her with us to the cafeteria. I'm sure you both could use a little mommy-daughter time."

Callie closed her eyes as she relished the thought of her daughter. As much as she wanted to stay by Arizona's side through everything, she knew she needed to see their daughter, too. Sofia needed it and so did she. "Yes, that sounds wonderful." She opened her eyes and looked down at Arizona, smiling at how surprisingly peaceful she looked, even attached to so many tubes and wires. She leaned down and placed a light kiss on her forehead. "I'll give her a kiss from her mama, don't you worry. And I'll be back before you know it."

As they left Arizona's room, Owen was coming down the hall toward them. "We're going to get some food," Mark said by way of explanation. "Page one of us if there's any change."

Owen nodded as he walked by. "Will do."

It took them a few minutes to take the elevator down to the first floor and get to the daycare center. As they walked in, Callie's face broke out into an instant smile, her mood feeling light for the first time in what felt like forever. Seeing all the children helped remove a layer of worry that had been sitting on her chest since the previous morning. There was something so hopeful and wonderful about all the chattering and playing that was going on among the tiny humans that spent their days in the center while their parents were in other parts of the hospital saving lives.

It took her a moment to scan the room and find Sofia, but when she did, she found her feet instantly moving in the baby's direction. Sofia was sitting on a rug pulling at the block that a little boy, who was maybe two months older, held in his hand. Both were grunting, but not making any comprehensible words, as they fought over the block with pudgy hands and uncoordinated movements. "Sofia," Callie said with put on exasperation.

Dark brown eyes flashed up toward her mother's voice and a huge smile erupted on her little features followed quickly by the lightest of laughs. Callie went over and scooped her up, laughing along with Sofia as she swung her up into the air. "Baby Boo!" She then pulled her down to her chest and held her tight. "I've missed my little Sofia. I love you. And so does Mama. She wants you to know she loves you very, very much."

"Daddy loves her, too," Mark added from right behind her.

"Yeah, yeah, wait your turn, Daddy. This is mommy daughter love fest time." She turned around and looked at his mock hurt expression and laughed. "Thank you. This last day has been really rough, so thank you for reminding me to take care of myself and Sofia. Sometimes I can get so caught up—"

"Stop it," he said more seriously as he stepped closer to her. "You have every right to be caught up right now. But I know Arizona wouldn't want you just sitting at her bedside and not spending time with Sofia or taking care of yourself." He smirked. "I really don't need her kicking my ass when she gets out of here. So, let's go get some food. I hear an apple calling my name."

"Do you ever eat anything at work that doesn't fall off a tree?"

"Do you want the dirty answer to that or the we're-in-the-middle-of-a-daycare appropriate answer?"

Callie laughed hard at that, feeling such a sense of normalcy in their banter. It felt good to laugh, even if in the back of her mind she was still worried about Arizona. But he was right that Arizona wouldn't want Callie to wallow or worry more than needed.

While her laughter died down, Mark went over to the director of the daycare center and spoke with her for a moment before returning. "Okay, Sofia has been given a get out of jail free card good for one meal with Mommy and Daddy. So, let's go get some grub."

It took them a few minutes and some passing of Sofia back and forth as they gathered food onto their trays from the cafeteria line, before they were seated at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. Sofia was perched in the only available high chair and Mark was happily munching on a red apple. Callie alternated between eating forkfuls of lasagna and spooning applesauce into Sofia's mouth.

"See, the kid likes apples. She's so mine," Mark said around a mouthful of the fruit.

"I thought it was the Sloan nose that gave away that she was yours. But if you want to go with apples." Callie laughed lightly again before going back to finishing her lasagna. She really had been starving, and the pasta was doing the trick of making her realize how hungry she really was. "Would you do me a huge favor and get me something else to eat? I've got a few meals to make up for."

"What would you like?" Mark asked as he twisted in his seat and shot the core of his apple into a nearby trash can. "Animal, vegetable, or horribly bad for you but oh so yummy?"

Callie glanced over at the cafeteria line and smiled. "How about a piece of lemon meringue pie? That'll go down easy."

Mark gave a slightly rakish smile. "Living on the wild side. I like it. One piece of pie coming right up."

"The biggest one they have," Callie called after him as he moved over to the dessert section. She then turned back to Sofia and ladled another spoonful of applesauce into her mouth. "I'll let you have a bite of pie, but just one. And no crust. After all, Daddy is the one who will have to put up with your sugar crash." She put the spoon down and ran the palm of her hand along one soft cheek, her expression becoming more serious. "Your mama's going to be sick for a long time, Baby Boo. And it might be a while until you can see her. We can't have you bringing a cold into the ICU. I know you'll miss having her around. Sometimes I think you love your mama the most, huh?"

Sofia must have heard her say 'mama', because she suddenly looked around, an expectant expression on her face. Finally she looked back at Callie with a cloud of disappointment in her dark eyes. "Yeah, it's gonna be rough little one, but your mama's going to fight tooth and nail to get better, because she loves us both more than anything and she wants to be with us. Just like we want her to be better and be back with us, right? And she will. She'll get better. It's just going to take some time."

Mark came back to the table then, carrying a plate with two rather paltry pieces of lemon meringue pie. He'd thrown a napkin over his arm, like a waiter in a fancy restaurant, and leaned down to present the plate to Callie. "One, okay well two, pieces of lemon meringue pie. As the lady ordered." He placed the plate down, shook the napkin out and placed it on her lap, and then went over to take his seat again.

Callie smiled over at him with a light laugh. "Thank you. And not just for the pie. Thank you for getting me to laugh."

"They say it's the best medicine."

"That they do." Callie took a forkful of the pie and bit into it with a slight smile. There was still doubt and worry, and she had to admit no small amount of fear, but with a little sleep, some food, the time with her daughter and laughter with her best friend, and most importantly knowing that Arizona was doing better and was in the very best of hands, she was feeling better. She felt hopeful and she just knew that everything would be okay. The road might be long, and there might be obstacles along the way, but in the end it would all work out. She and Arizona and Sofia would be happy and healthy and together. And Mark would still be driving them all a little crazy. That was how their world was supposed to be. And that's how it would be again. She had no doubt.

* * *

><p>As Callie walked back through the ICU floor, she found Owen at the desk writing in a chart. "How'd she do?" she asked as she walked up to him.<p>

He finished a sentence and shut the chart. "As you would suspect, it's a bit of a mixed bag. She came through the tests fine. If anything, her vitals are a tad better than they were when we took her down. And the best news is that there were no brain bleeds on the CT."

Callie let out a sigh of relief. Cristina had mentioned some delirium after the crash and some short term memory loss from before the crash, so it had always been a worry that there could be a brain injury that was more serious than just a mild concussion. Hearing that there was nothing on the CT was a huge relief, especially because it reduced the potential number of surgeries Arizona would need to undergo. The less time she was in the OR, especially in the next few days, the better. "Glad to hear that. So, what's the bad news?"

Owen's eyes dropped for a moment before coming up to meet Callie's gaze again. "We did an abdominal CT and a renal ultrasound. As you'd suspect, her organs are all quite inflamed. There's a lot of infection still all over the abdominal cavity. And between her lack of urine output and the ultrasound, it's pretty clear that the infection is especially damaging to her kidneys. We're going to start her on some continuous dialysis."

Callie's mood dropped at that. While it was certainly not surprising, it was something she was hoping they would avoid. And there was also the question of whether her kidneys would rebound later or whether any damage would be permanent. _Cross that bridge when you come to it. For now, this will help take the stress off her kidneys and give them a chance to heal. Look at it that way._ She swallowed and then nodded. "Anything else?"

He shook his head. "Not really. We got another chest x-ray while we were there. It's too soon to expect much of a change there. Her heart looks good. We did both a cardiac CT and an echo and both looked fine, so that's good news. We've gotten the blood cultures back and we're going to change up her antibiotics a bit so that should hopefully help matters some." He put his hand on her forearm and gently squeezed. "She's doing well. Really she is. If things continue this way, we'll try to pull her out of the sedation tomorrow."

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"No problem. Look, I'm heading home now. I've been here since yesterday and if I don't get some sleep soon, I'm going to drop. Since she's no longer a trauma, Bailey is going to take over as lead on her case. But she'll call me if there are any major changes and I need to come back in. We're all going to keep a close eye on her until she's over the hump, I promise."

Callie nodded. "I almost forgot you've been here just as long as I have. At least I've gotten a few short naps." She looked over toward Arizona's room and then back at Owen. "Thank you for everything. I know the last day's been pretty rough on you, too. You've been an amazing friend and doctor. We're really lucky to have you."

He nodded again and then walked off down the hall without a further word, the chart he had been working on tucked under his arm.

Callie smiled after him before turning to walk into Arizona's room. As she entered, there were two technicians setting up the dialysis machine. "Hi, Doctor Torres," one of them said as she walked in. "We're just wrapping up."

Callie nodded to the tech and went over to stand by Arizona's bed side. She gently rubbed the backs of her fingers along Arizona's cheek as she watched the technicians finish up their work and start up the dialysis machine. After a moment of watching it run, the male technician looked at her. "Okay, she's all set. We'll be back in about two hours to check on how it's going, but if you notice any issues, just have us paged."

"Thank you," she said as they collected a few items and then walked quietly out of the room.

When they were gone, she looked down at Arizona with a smile. "You're doing pretty well, it seems. We just need to give your kidneys some help. And Owen said if you keep improving like this, they'll let you wake up tomorrow. So, please keep improving, because I'm dying to talk to you. I miss you so much."

She pulled the plastic side bar of the bed down and sat on the edge of it. "I just had lunch with Sofia. I can tell she misses you. I would say 'mama' and she would look around like you should be there. She really does love her mama." She laughed quietly. "The kid's got good taste," she joked.

She got a little more serious. "Mark's got our back. He's going to watch Sofia, of course, but I think he'll do a pretty good job of looking after me, too." She rolled her eyes with a small smile on her face. "I don't like people to know this, but I sometimes need someone to keep an eye on me. I know you knew that, of course, but I have a hard time admitting that, even to you."

She leaned over and placed a kiss on Arizona's cheek. "You get some rest and I'll stop talking your ear off. I need to make some calls. Your parents want an update and I need to check in with my dad." She thought about the fact her mother was in Seattle and let out a quiet sigh. "I promise I'll resist the urge to tell her to go home before we get a chance to talk. You'd want us to talk, wouldn't you?"

She got up and walked over to the guest chair. She sat down and curled her legs under her as she dialed her father's cellphone number. "Hi, Daddy," she said when he answered.

"Calliope, how are you? How's Arizona?"

"She's doing as well as can be expected. I think she'll pull through, but there might be some lingering problems." She didn't want to think that far in advance to the complications that might haunt Arizona, both physical and mental. But she knew that she wasn't going to just simply get better and leave the hospital with no problems. If she learned anything from her own struggles after the car crash, it was that some wounds took a long time to heal and a few might never truly go away. "And I'm doing well enough. Mark made sure I got some food and I've had a nap, so that helps."

"We're praying for you both," her father said quietly.

Callie frowned slightly. "Dad, has Mom really had a change of heart?"

There was a pause before he spoke. "Calliope, all I can tell you is we've had a lot of discussions about how she feels about your life and I think she's made some progress. I'm not sure she's quite where you would want her to be, but I promise you, she's trying."

"Okay, I guess that's all I can ask, right? How long do you think she can stay? I'm not sure I'm up to talking with her right now and it might be a few days until I am." She knew it was going to take a lot out of her to have this discussion with her mother, no matter how well it turned out, and she had to reserve that emotional strength for Arizona and Sofia at the moment. They would always be her first priority.

"She cleared her schedule for the rest of the week, so at least through the weekend. But if you need longer, I'm sure she can manage." He paused for a moment and then said. "We're both here for you, Mija. As long as you want us here, we'll be here, okay?"

"Thanks, Dad. I'll call you tomorrow. I need to talk to Arizona's parents and update them and then I need to try to get some solid sleep. It's been a long two days." She paused before letting out a long breath. "Tell Mom I said hi. And I love you."

"I love you too, Calliope. We both do."

She hung up the phone and quickly dialed Daniel's number. She spent a few minutes updating him as to Arizona's condition and then agreed to see them both in the morning when visiting hours started.

When she hung up, she let out a long cleansing breath. She looked over to Arizona and smiled. "Yes, I know, I need to actually use the cot when I sleep this time. My back is kind of screaming right now." She got up from the chair and leaned down over Arizona, her voice barely a whisper when she spoke. "I love you, Arizona. You just keep improving and I'll be here with you through it all, okay?" She placed a long kiss on Arizona's forehead. "Alright, I'll see you when I wake up." She then went over to the cot and climbed under the thin sheets and blanket. Her head barely touched the pillow before she fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry this had to take as long as it did. There was a death in the family two days before Christmas, so I've been out of town and incredibly busy dealing with stuff surrounding that pretty much since I last posted a chapter. I barely got to write a word until I got home yesterday.

I am glad everyone seemed to love the last chapter. That one was my favorite so far, but there are a few moments in this one I really like.

And as always thanks for the reviews and the private messages. They are always a great incentive to keep working on it. I know I don't always reply (I'm a bit lazy like that), but know that each and every review means the world to me.

* * *

><p>Chapter Eight<p>

Callie paced around the room as Mark was working on Arizona's arm. She would glance over at him on occasion, but mostly she kept her eyes either on Arizona or her monitors.

"A watched pot never boils and a watched BP never goes up," Mark said as he looked up from his debridement work.

"But she's so close Mark. I mean, what if her systolic only stays at 86 all day? It hasn't gone up in three hours." Callie was feeling frustrated that Arizona's systolic blood pressure hadn't reached 90, which was Bailey's minimum for allowing Arizona out from the sedation. "I'm going a little crazy here, not being able to talk to her. I know she'll live at this point, but we still don't know for sure how…" Her voice clenched up and she couldn't finish vocalizing the dreaded thought that, no matter what the head CT showed, there could be some brain damage. It was her biggest fear at this point.

Mark sighed quietly. "You're right. We don't know for sure, and we won't until she wakes up, and even then it might take a while to fully assess what is going on with her. I know this is hard, but you can't rush it. This is the long road, Torres. Remember how long it took you to come back from your accident?"

"Okay, okay, I know." Her eyes tracked up to the clock on the wall. It was already 2pm. She moved over to the guest chair and sat down heavily. "How's her arm looking?"

Mark looked up with a slight smirk. "In the hands of a lesser surgeon, she'd probably end up losing it. Luckily for you both, you've got the best plastic surgeon on the West Coast, maybe even in the US, at your beck and call."

Callie rolled her eyes. "You and your ego," she said with exasperation. She then craned her neck to see what he was doing. "You're going to need to do a pretty big skin graft, huh?"

He nodded. "But we're more concerned with the muscle and nerve damage."

"Do you think she'll be able to perform surgery?" It was a question she was afraid to get an answer to.

Mark pursed his lips in thought for a moment. "I spoke to Derek and Dr. Wang about that this morning. I hate to talk about your colleague, but Dr. Wang really isn't much to write home about. I wish we could have you on the case."

"Hospital rules," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I think once she's awake, I'll see if we can bring in someone with a muscle trauma specialty. Robin Tucker from the Mayo Clinic or John Quinn from Hopkins would be good choices. I'll have to get in contact with them." She laughed quietly. "And, yes, Dr. Wang is merely competent. He's just biding his time until retirement at this point."

He nodded as he bowed his head back over Arizona's arm. "But to answer your question, I think it could go either way. With the right repairs and enough physical therapy, she has a shot, maybe fifty-fifty, but that's about it. At least it's her left arm, otherwise I'd say no way in hell. She'll likely lose a little bit of the fine motor skills in that hand."

She reached out and took Arizona's hand in her own, running her thumb along the smooth skin. "I guess that's about the best we can hope for. Her life is way more important than her career and I'm sure she'd agree with that. It would be hard if she could never operate again, but she's Arizona. She'll find a way to adapt if she has to. I just hope that's not necessary. It would be such a waste."

"She's one of the best. And as one of the other best, I don't give that title lightly," Mark said with just a hint of a mischievous grin.

"You really should get that ego checked, Mark. It's a little inflamed." She laughed quietly and leaned back in her chair.

A knock from the doorway made Callie turn her head. She smiled broadly when she saw her father standing in the hallway, a get well balloon in his hand. "I asked at the gift shop and they said I shouldn't bring flowers up to the ICU, so they sold me this balloon instead." He walked in and looked over at Callie. "How's she doing?"

Callie's eyes drifted out of reflex to Arizona. "She's plateaued a bit, but better that than sinking back down."

Carlos wrapped Callie in a strong hug. "I've heard enough from you to know that she's a remarkably strong woman. She'd have to be, to keep up with you." He chuckled quietly. "She'll get through this. She knows she has a family that needs her. I think the mind can be a powerful weapon in getting well. But then again, I'm not a doctor, so what do I know? But I think your mother told me she heard that on Oprah at some point."

That made Callie laugh as she remembered her mother's extensive collection of old VHS tapes with every episode of Oprah. _Well every episode except the ones on that tape I erased when I recorded that Duran Duran concert._ That memory only made her laughter extend for a moment before she sobered and pulled out of her father's embrace. "She'll get through this. But you know me, Dad, I'm not very patient."

"You? Impatient? Never." His laughter was jovial. He looked down at Mark and then wrinkled his nose before averting his gaze. "I didn't need to see what you're working on there, Mark. I never could stand the sight of blood."

Callie's rolled her eyes at her father as she took him by the elbow and began to steer him out of the room. "We'll be in the lounge," she called over her shoulder to Mark.

"No worries," her friend replied. "I'll just be here, digging out necrotized flesh. You know, the work I'd have an intern do if the patient wasn't the mother of my child."

Callie paused for a moment to look back at Mark. "You are such a drama queen." With a laugh she then left the room, still gently guiding her father down the hallway.

Carlos looked over at Callie with the strangest expression. "Mark isn't one of those men who dresses up like women and sings show tunes in bars, is he?"

Callie stopped and suddenly let out a huge belly laugh as the image of Mark in full drag but still with his scruffy facial hair popped into her mind. She even imagined him singing some old Donna Summer's tune and the laughter just built. Finally, she took a breath and managed to get the laughter under control. "No, he's not a drag queen, Daddy. He's a drama queen. Big difference."

Carlos shook his head and let out a big breath. "I'm sorry, Calliope, I'm still trying to get this whole gay culture thing down. It's kind of confusing."

"Tell me about it." Callie opened the door to the doctor's lounge and peeked in, relieved to find it empty. She then motioned for her father to go before her. She immediately went over to the coffee machine. "Would you like a cup?"

"Please," her father answered as he sat down at the round table in the middle of the room. "Have you gotten any sleep, Mija?"

Callie finished preparing her own coffee and then brought the two cups-one black for her father, and one with a little cream and sugar, for her own-over to the table. "Yeah, I've had a few naps and last night I probably slept a good six hours. You know how much I love to sleep, but I tend to live off of six hours or less all too often, so that felt like a real night's sleep to me."

Carlos smiled as he took the coffee and then sipped from it tentatively. "That's awful," he said with a quiet laugh. "But right now it tastes perfect."

Callie took her own taste. "It's actually some of the best coffee that I've had in this lounge. Normally you could get a spoon to stand up in the sludge. We like it strong around here."

Her father nodded as he gripped the paper cup in both hands as if he were trying to warm them. "I can imagine stronger is better when you need to pull the hours you all do."

She shrugged. "You get used to it." She looked over at her father and let out a quiet sigh. "I'm really afraid, Daddy. What if there's brain damage we can't see? What if she's not the same Arizona? I…" She trailed off and swallowed hard. "I would never abandon her, of course. I'm in this for life. But I'm not sure how I could survive without her, without _my_ Arizona."

Carlos reached across the table and placed his hand on his daughter's wrist. "Don't cross that bridge before you come to it, Calliope. Remember when Aria…" His voice trailed off and his face showed a shadow of pain that Callie recognized.

_When she slit her wrists. How could I forget?_ "Of course I remember. You were so strong. I always wondered if you were such a rock because she's your step daughter. But now I know that's not the case." There was no question in her voice.

"Of course not," he said, almost a little too defensively. "I raised that girl since she was four. You may be my daughter by blood, but you're both equally the daughters of my heart." He shook his head. "But you were young when that happened. We kept so much from you, because a twelve year old shouldn't know those things. But we were scared for so long. I mean, she ended up fine physically, but we walked on egg shells for so long, afraid that any day we'd come home and find her dead. It tore up our lives for so long, because we lived as if the worst would come true at any moment. I know you won't have to wait quite so long before you know one way or the other, but don't live for one second like that. You have to have faith that she'll be okay."

Tears clouded Callie's vision and she wiped at them as she forced a smile. "I know. Easier said than done, but you're right. And really that's just my paranoia. I don't like not knowing something and her not being awake is so hard. Even if there is damage, just knowing exactly what we're facing will be easier, because I'll know."

Carlos nodded but didn't say anything. Instead he took a long sip of his coffee. Finally he said, "She's so lucky to have you."

"I'm lucky to have her," Callie said automatically. "I'll stick with her through anything, absolutely anything."

Her father's smile was broad and proud. "I always knew you'd find someone special and you'd be such a loyal and dedicated spouse."

She laughed and was about to make a comment about his dreams for her when her pager went off. She lifted it, noting that she was being paged to Arizona's room, but not 911, and she let out a quiet sigh of relief. "I need to get back. Would you come with me? I'd like to spend a little more time with you, but we can do that in her room. Mark should be done digging around in her arm by now."

Her father shivered dramatically. "Good. You know I've never been good with anything medical."

"I'm so glad I didn't get that from you," she said as she quickly drained the rest of her cup of coffee and tossed it in the trash before holding the door open for her father to precede her out into the hallway.

* * *

><p>Mark had a knowing smirk on his face when Callie and her father walked back into Arizona's room. He was sitting in the guest chair, his feet propped up on the end of the hospital bed. He pointed at the vital signs monitor and said, "Told you a watched BP never budges."<p>

Callie looked at the monitor and her eyes went wide. "94 over 78. That's amazing!" She looked back down at Mark and then squinted at him with playful menace. "Okay, Mr. Know-it-All, did you call Bailey?"

"Yes, he did," Bailey said as she walked into the room and went over to the far side of Arizona's bed. She spent a moment scrutinizing the monitor before turning back to the three of them. She smiled at Callie's father. "Nice to see you again, Mr. Torres."

"And you too, Dr. Bailey."

She then turned her focus to Callie. "Okay, here's the plan. We'll extubate her now. Assuming she breathes okay on her own, we'll sit tight and see how things go. I want to give it two hours and see where her vitals are without life support. If everything is fine, then we'll pull her out of the sedation and set her up with a self-regulating morphine drip. I imagine she'll be in a lot of pain, and I want her to have control of that. She's going to still need a ton of rest and the morphine will help."

Callie was disappointed she'd have to wait another two hours at least until she could have a chance to talk to Arizona. But, still, she knew Bailey was correct that they needed to make sure Arizona's vitals remained steady without the support of the ventilator before thinking about bringing her out of the sedation. It was hard to balance the human need to speak with her wife with the doctor's knowledge of what was best for Arizona as a patient. "Okay, let's see how she does off the vent then."

It took Bailey a few moments to pull the tube out of Arizona's throat. To Callie it seemed to take forever before Arizona drew her first unassisted breath, but she finally pulled in air on her own. Callie kept moving her eyes between Arizona and the vitals monitor and was relieved that her BP seemed to be holding steady while her oxygen saturation only dropped two percent to a very respectable 98%. She let a cautious smile come to her face. "That's my girl," she said quietly to no one in particular.

"I take it that it's going well?" Callie's father asked.

Bailey nodded as she too wore a small smile on her face. "If she keeps this up, Arizona will be awake in a few hours."

"Torres, why don't you and your father go get something to eat and maybe stop in to see Sofia?" Mark leaned back a little more in the guest chair. "Then go get a shower so you look your best for her. I'm technically off today so I can sit here and keep an eye on Robbins while you take a little time for yourself." His smile grew knowingly. "It'll help the next few hours pass quicker."

Callie smiled over at Mark, her heart warmed by the thoughtfulness of his suggestion. He had to know that all the waiting was wearing on her, and he was right that these last few hours would probably seem like some of the longest of all. Spending time with her father and Sofia would make them just a little more bearable. "Thank you, Mark. You're really the best."

"Don't let that get out, okay? I have a reputation to uphold." Mark's smile caused the skin around his eyes to crinkle.

She nodded before turning to her father. "So, Daddy, care to buy your daughter and granddaughter a late lunch?"

"It would be my pleasure."

Callie smiled broadly before going to lean over Arizona. She put her mouth to Arizona's ear and whispered, "At least I can give you a proper kiss now." She then leaned over and placed a gentle but heartfelt kiss on Arizona's lips. She sighed quietly as she pulled back to a few inches above Arizona's face. She placed her hand on one warm cheek and smiled. "I love you and I'll see you soon."

She stood up and went back over to her father. With a final glance at Arizona, who really appeared to merely be sleeping now that the intubation tube had been removed, she linked her arm with her father's and let him lead her from the room.

* * *

><p><em>Arizona sat on the edge of the ocean, watching waves crash against the sand. It was a beautiful day with a blue sky and a few white puffy clouds. The rhythmic sounds of the waves coming in to land were soothing and she closed her eyes to take in everything with her other senses. She sighed quietly. "I could stay here forever."<em>

"_You can't stay for much longer," a male voice said from behind her._

_Her eyes popped open as she turned toward the man. She squinted with her hand over her eyes to shield from the bright sun. He was a young man, almost a boy really, with short-cropped hair and a wisp of a mustache. He had bright blue eyes and just a little hint of a dimple in his cheek when he smiled at her. He reminded her of pictures she'd seen of her father when he was a teenager, but not quite. "Hello," she said cheerfully._

_He came and sat down on the sand beside her, his eyes drifting off toward the ocean for a moment before he turned back to her. "It's almost time for you to go back to your life, Arizona."_

"_Who are you?"_

_He shook his head with a slight smile on his face. "You're all but named after me and you don't recognize me?" His laughter was light. "I guess it's hard to recognize someone you only ever saw in pictures."_

"_You're my grandfather?" Now that she thought back to the scrapbooks her father had made her go through on more occasions than she could count, she realized he did look just like the pictures of the young man in his fatigues that had stared out at her with amusement in his eyes. "You were such a hero." That was what they always said in her family when they mentioned her grandfather and it just slipped out now out of habit._

_He shook his head. "No, I did what I needed to do. That's all."_

_Arizona took a deep breath, trying hard not to acknowledge the fact that there wasn't really any air going in or out of her lungs, but just the motion calmed her. "I saw my brother, Timothy, in one of these dreams or whatever this is. He swore I wasn't dead. But if I'm seeing you, then I must be dead, right? I could dream about him, but not you."_

"_Why not? You've surely got a good imagination. And you've seen lots of pictures of me."_

"_But if I was having a dream about you, wouldn't I have known who you are?" This whole afterlife or almost afterlife or whatever it was seemed to make no sense to Arizona and she was getting frustrated._

"_Maybe. But, trust me, you aren't dead. Not even close. In fact, you're getting better and will be waking up soon. That's why I had to come now." _

"_Okay, so then what's your cryptic message? I'm sure you've got one, after all that's why Timothy broke through this whole death-life barrier, so why not you? Are you going to say something that I would hear if I called the psychic friends' hotline?"_

_Her grandfather laughed quietly. "No, nothing cryptic. I'm more of a straight shooter." He looked at her directly. "Why don't you want to get pregnant?"_

_She laughed at the absurdity of the turn in their discussion. "Is that what this is all about? I have one little fight with my wife and suddenly my dead grandfather is all over me about it? Look, I just don't want to. I don't really have a reason; it's just not something that I want to do. And, really, it's none of your business. I respect that you're my grandfather, but it's my decision."_

_He sighed quietly. "It's my DNA. It's your father's DNA. With your brother dead, you're the end of the line for both of us. I'd like to think there would be some Robbins descendants somewhere down the line." He shrugged and then shook his head. "But that's really not the reason I'm asking."_

"_Okay, so why are you asking?"_

"_You aren't a coward, Arizona. I know that. Look at what you just did on that airplane."_

"_You think I'm afraid?" Arizona turned toward him and shook her head vehemently. "What the hell would I be afraid of? I've already got Sofia, so I'm clearly over the whole not wanting to be a parent thing. And I'm not worried about the pain or the bloating or the ridiculous elastic jeans either. That's all trivial. Not wanting to bear a child has nothing to do with fear."_

"_Then what does it have to do with?" One of his thin eyebrows rose in challenge. "You are afraid, but you're right, it's not about those trivial things. You love Sofia. That's so obvious and I don't think you could love her more if you had given birth to her. But you know deep down that having your own flesh and blood will be different, not in the amount of love, but in the type of bond you would have. If something happens to that child, it would destroy you. You've seen that devastation all too often, with your own family and in your work. You've seen the pain your mother went through in her life—first with the miscarriages and then when Timothy was killed. Sure, you faced those fears to some degree in order to be with Callie, but having a child of your own, that's just too much for you to think about." _

_She shook her head, pushing the possibility that her grandfather was correct into the farthest and darkest recesses of her mind. "No, that's just not it. You're right, I couldn't love Sofia more and if anything ever happened to her…" She felt a knot grow in her throat at the thought. "No, that's not it. And besides, I'm sure Callie will be able to have another child. And if not, there's always adoption."_

_Her grandfather nodded slightly. "If you say so." He slowly got to his feet. He then leaned over her and placed a kiss on the crown of her head. "Whatever you decide, just know that I love you. You've made me a very proud grandpa." He smiled down at her before turning and walking away._

"_Wait," she called after him once he'd taken a few steps._

_He turned back to her with one eyebrow raised in question and bit at his lip. He waited a moment and then finally said, "I shouldn't tell you this, but if you're still confused, just know you already made the decision; you just can't remember that right now." He knocked on his forehead with his knuckles. "Right before the crash you realized what you wanted to do about having more children. It's amazing what a little life and death situation will do to provide clarity. Give it time and you'll remember."_

_He blew her a kiss and then faded before her eyes._

_Arizona sighed with a shake of her head. "I really do hope I wake up soon, because all these visits from the hereafter are starting to make my head hurt." She leaned back on her hands and looked up at the sky. "Okay, so what if I'm afraid? Is there anything wrong with that? Besides, with any luck, Callie will be able to have more kids and I'll never have to worry about it." She rolled her eyes and then focused back on the water. "But right now, I'm not definitely not going to worry about it. Sounds like I don't have much time to enjoy this place." An easy smile spread to her lips. "That means I'll get to see Callie soon. She's so much better than all of this. So much better."_

* * *

><p>Callie's knee was bouncing up and down at about a mile a minute as she sat in the guest chair and held Arizona's right hand. Everything had gone well the rest of the day and Bailey had agreed to bring Arizona out from under the sedation. Now Callie was waiting, rather impatiently, for Arizona to finally wake up. "Come on, Arizona. Any second now."<p>

As if she had heard Callie, Arizona's fingers twitched. Callie bit at her lip and waited a moment to make sure she hadn't imagined it. This time, Arizona's fingers tightened around Callie's. "Arizona?" she whispered quietly. "Come on, baby, open those beautiful blue eyes."

Arizona's mouth moved and then just the edge of her lips curled up into a slight smile. "You're calling me baby now?" she croaked out roughly as her eyes fluttered open. She blinked hard a few times and then her eyes met Callie's and her smile grew. "Hey you."

Tears quickly made it difficult for Callie to see and she wiped at her eyes as she leaned forward. "I've missed you," she said as she reached out and rubbed Arizona's cheek. "I…" Her throat caught on the emotions she was feeling and she had to swallow hard before she could speak. "I love you so much."

"Love you, too," Arizona replied, her voice sounding a little clearer. "Water?"

Callie first used the bed controls to raise Arizona's head more and then grabbed her bottle of water and brought it up to Arizona's lips. She gently tipped it back. "Not too much."

Arizona took two small sips and then nodded wearily. She swallowed hard and then looked around the room. "ICU. How long?"

"You've been here almost 36 hours. And you were out in the wreckage for one night." Callie's brow furrowed as she rubbed Arizona's arm. "How are you feeling? Bailey set up a morphine drip if you want something for the pain."

Arizona shook her head. "Not yet. It'll make me sleepy." When she smiled, her eyes twinkled. "I want to talk to you. I missed you, too."

Callie picked up Arizona's hand and placed a kiss on her palm. "I love you, and I've missed talking with you, but please use the morphine if you need it. I can't stand to think that you're in pain."

"Okay, but really it's okay right now." Arizona's brow furrowed as she adjusted her position on the bed. She sucked in a painful breath and then asked, "What's wrong with me?"

"Do you remember the crash?"

Arizona's eyes drifted down to her left arm. "It's still there." She let out a long sigh of relief before looking back to Callie. "I don't remember the crash, but I remember what came after. Cristina pulled a branch out of my arm."

Callie wiped a few more stray tears away from her own face and laughed quietly. "Yeah, she's definitely achieved bad ass status in my book." She then got more serious. "Your arm will need some work. Mark and Derek are leading the team on it. You've also been fighting off sepsis. But your vitals have improved. It'll just take a while to get rid of all the infection and get your strength back."

Arizona looked around the room, but stopped when her eyes fell on the dialysis machine in the far corner. "So, my kidneys are failing," she said with a voice that was stronger now. "Anything else?"

"That's the biggie," Callie said as she reached over and took Arizona's chin in her hands, turning it back so their eyes could meet. "You know that your kidneys will probably kick back in when the infection starts clearing up. Don't worry about it just yet, okay?" She smiled broadly, trying to show more confidence on her face than she actually felt. "Remember how you wouldn't let me get down about all my problems after the accident? I'm pretty sure you told me 'positive beliefs bring positive outcomes', right?"

Arizona scowled at Callie, but there was humor in her eyes. "Using my own words against me. That's low, Calliope."

"I'll use every weapon I have at my disposal." Callie sobered suddenly as she first looked down to where their hands were joined before glancing back up to meet Arizona's gaze. "I would do anything to get you healthy again. I…" Her throat choked on the emotion and she shook her head. "I can't live without you, Arizona. Sofia and I need you too much."

"Hey," Arizona said as she reached up with her right hand to wipe the tears that were now soaking Callie's cheeks again. When she was finished, she cupped her left cheek gently, running her thumb along the cheekbone. "I promise you, I'm here and I'll fight to get better. Okay? I love you, Callie. I love you and Sofia more than anything. And I'll do everything possible so we can be together for a very, very long time."

"Really long," Callie said with a quiet nod.

"Super-duper long," Arizona said with a quiet laugh.

That made Callie laugh. "I really missed all your awesomes and supers."

Arizona laughed harder and then moaned in pain as a fit of coughs overtook her. "Where's that morphine?" she managed to croak out between coughs and ragged breaths.

Callie grabbed the thumb trigger and pushed down on the button for Arizona. "There, that should help. If it's not enough, let me know, and I'll go get you something a little more potent."

Arizona took a few more slow deep breaths and then let out a sigh, "Yeah, I think that'll do." Her eyes started to droop. "But I am feeling a bit tired."

"You sleep," Callie said as she took Arizona's hand and placed it back on the bed. "I'm going to go call your parents and then I'll be right back. They're here, by the way. They'll want to see you now that you're awake."

"Super," Arizona said with a tired laugh. Her eyes slid shut and she took a deep breath before whispering. "But first you need to give me a kiss goodnight, Calliope Torres."

Callie jumped to her feet, not wanting Arizona to succumb to the effects of the morphine before she could carry out the request. "Anytime," she said as she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss full of all the love she felt on Arizona's soft lips.

A few seconds into the kiss she could tell that Arizona had drifted off to sleep. Callie stood up and then kissed Arizona on the forehead. "You are the love of my life, Arizona Robbins, and we're going to get you through this so we can get back to that super-duper amazing awesome life we have."

With a final affectionate smile for her wife, she left the room, grabbing the phone out of her scrubs pocket with a practiced hand as she went out into the hallway to call her in-laws.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for the kind words in your reviews and messages (and some constructive criticism). And I apologize that this took so long. It's been rough going the last few weeks and on top of that I've had some writer's block.

And just a little aside based on something a reader mentioned to me, I want to make sure no one thinks I'm saying that I believe (or even that Arizona will eventually believe) that the bond she'd have with a biological child would be different than the one she has with Sofia. In fact that's a major topic still to be handled in the story. I've got your back people :)

So, hope you enjoy the Arizona POVs we get to finally have. I've missed writing much from her head. And I think Callie needs a bit of a break from me playing around almost exclusively in her skull.

And whoops I totally forgot about Burke getting shot in the shoulder until I started rewatching Callie eps. Funnily enough I originally planned to have Arizona's symptoms be exactly what Burke's were on the show so had to change that. Which of course means worse things and more drama for Calzona!

I'm starting grad school again next week so please be patient with any updates. I'm shooting for one a week, but one every two weeks (like this one) is probably more realistic. Since I prefer longer updates, it takes longer to get them together.

* * *

><p>Chapter Nine<p>

Arizona felt like she'd been hit by a truck. _Or crashed in an airplane and had a tree attack me._ She struggled to open her eyes, waiting for her vision to sharpen. "Bright light," she mumbled as she finally opened her eyes more fully and focused on where Callie was standing to the side of her bed, smiling down on her.

"Okay, my little gremlin," Callie said with a quiet laugh. She leaned down and placed the softest of kisses on Arizona's lips before whispering. "Sorry, we need the lights up so everyone can evaluate you."

"Everyone?" She looked around the room and noticed Shepherd, Sloan, Bailey, and Yang standing on the left side of her bed. "Wow, it's Surgeon-palooza in here."

The room filled with a light laughter at her comment.

Callie sat down on the edge of the bed and said, "I got a hold of your parents. They'll be here in an hour or so. They were just heading out to dinner with my parents so I told them since you were stable and clearly not going anywhere, to go ahead and eat."

Arizona blinked and looked up at Callie, forgetting everyone else in the room. "Wait, did you say parents, as in plural? Your parents are here? Both of them?"

Callie nodded. "It's a long story and I'll share it with you after Derek and company check you out, okay?"

"Okay," Arizona said quietly, not having the energy to push the topic and knowing she needed to talk with her colleagues. She turned back toward the doctors on her left. "So, you guys have been cleaning me out, huh?"

Mark seemed to stand a little taller as he quickly spoke before anyone else could. "Well, Derek's just been looking at your CTs and making satisfied noises. Bailey and I have been cleaning you out, well more me than Bailey. She just helped with the initial surgery. I've been in here debriding—"

Derek elbowed Mark and shook his head. "As usual, just ignore him." He moved closer to her bed and smiled down at her. "Glad you're awake. Mind if I do a little neuro exam?"

"Exam away."

Derek pulled out a pen light, shielded her eyes for a moment from the glaring lights in the room, and then flicked the light into each of her eyes, making her cringe just a little. He then help up his finger and began to move it back and forth, then up and down over her face, as she followed it with just her eyes. He nodded and then asked, "Do you remember the crash?"

Arizona thought back, trying to force her brain to go past the easy memory of climbing on board the small corporate jet, but that was all she could remember until Cristina was calling out her name and she woke up in the co-pilot's seat. "I got a text message from Callie, but there wasn't time to respond, because we were boarding the plane and the pilot wanted to take off. We were in a hurry because there was a storm coming and we had just enough time to get to Spokane and back with the heart." Mentioning the harvest made her think back to the reason for their trip. She turned her eyes to Yang. "What about the Johnsons?"

"We obviously lost the heart. A baby in Idaho got it," Cristina answered, her voice staying at its usual emotionally detached level. "Owen called Addison and she's agreed to come up and take over Mrs. Johnson's care. She'll be here tomorrow. The baby is still top of the transfer list and if Addison can keep her from delivering until her due date, they've got almost 6 weeks to find another heart."

That made Arizona feel just a little bit better, although it weighed heavily on her that their accident might have cost the young family the one thing that would save their unborn child. _But Addison is the best. If anyone can help them, she will._ She nodded to Cristina and forced a slight smile on to her face. "Thanks for letting me know. I wish we could have gotten the heart, but I'm glad it went to good use."

Derek touched her shoulder to get her attention again. "It wasn't your fault that the plane crashed. In fact, from what Cristina said, you got that plane down in one piece."

Arizona's eyes shot back to Cristina, who nodded. The younger surgeon smiled just slightly as she said, "I'll tell you the story a little later. You probably don't remember much about our rescue either."

Arizona's brow furrowed as she once again tried to put the jumbled memories in her head in some sort of order. "There was something about a guy on an ATV, but that's the last thing I remember before waking up here."

"By then the sepsis was pretty rampant, so I'd expect some delirium and then you basically lost consciousness," Derek said by way of explanation. "Based upon your head CT, it appears all you had was a concussion. But I want to get another scan tomorrow to make sure there isn't a slow bleed that we might have missed." He smiled down at her, "But all in all, I think you're pretty lucky."

"And what about my arm?" It was the injury that scared her the most. The sepsis was serious, but it was something they could fight pretty reliably with antibiotics, especially now that she knew her vitals were stronger. And of course there was the worry about her kidneys, but that would likely at worst be a chronic problem or maybe require a transplant. While potentially life threatening, there was hope there and a course of action that could mean a cure or improvement. But if her arm was unable to function, there would be nothing they could do. It would simply be unusable. Depending on the amount of damage, it could mean no surgeries, or even being unable to pick up Sofia. Worst case would mean she'd lose all use of her arm. It would mean a dramatic and even catastrophic change to her life, one that she was unsure she could handle. She closed her eyes and whispered, "I can't feel it."

Derek moved a little so he was standing down by her left hand. "Your body is on recovery overload right now so it's not strange to not be able to feel it right now. But let's see how you react to a few tests, okay? Without bending your elbow, can you lift your hand at the wrist? I don't want you flexing your bicep if you can help it."

Arizona looked down at her hand and concentrated on raising her hand, but it didn't budge. She clenched her jaw and squeezed Callie's hand tightly with her good hand as she fought to raise it, but her hand simply sat on the pillow, completely immobile.

Callie squeezed her hand back. "Remember how much trouble I had at the beginning, and I was able to come back. You have to be optimistic."

Tears sprang to her eyes as Arizona fought the panic she was feeling. She shook her head and looked up at Callie. "It won't move." She felt frustration and anger flare up in her but she resisted it, not wanting to lash out at the people who were only in the room to support and help her. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from everyone. "It won't move," she whispered again in defeat.

"There's a lot of inflammation, Arizona," Derek said softly as he touched her shoulder. "We need to wait for that inflammation to come down before we know anything for sure."

She nodded and opened her eyes, blinking until her vision cleared. She looked up at Callie and was met by the loving gaze that was her rock in the storm of all that was going on. Something about the calm and caring coming from those dark brown eyes made her heart settle. "No matter what," Callie said quietly, "we're in this together. Okay? And you can freak out and be scared. That's okay. I'll be strong for both of us."

Arizona nodded as she pulled their joined hands to her lips and kissed the back of Callie's hand. She sniffled and blinked, willing the tears to dry from her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered back. She then forced a smile on her face and turned back to Derek. "Any more tests?"

"Let's see if you can feel anything, okay? Painful stimuli might be more noticeable than passive tactile sensation." Derek pulled out a probe that looked like his penlight but with a skinny metal piece that came out of one end.

Arizona nodded and closed her eyes. "No cheating," she whispered, remembering the last time she had performed the same test on a little boy, just two weeks previously. He had ended up paralyzed after a car accident. _Don't go there, Arizona. Think positively. Positive beliefs bring positive outcomes. Positive beliefs bring positive outcomes._

"Now?"

She concentrated but could not feel anything. "No." _Positive beliefs bring positive outcomes. _

"How about now?"

"Still nothing." With each question she was having more difficulty believing her mantra.

"What about now?"

She thought she might have felt something. It was just the lightest of sensations, like she was feeling the probe through a thick glove, but it was something. "Is that my thumb?"

Arizona could hear the smile in Derek's voice. "It was. That was good, Arizona. That's a positive."

"A positive," she said as she let out a quiet sigh of relief. It was hard to be truly positive when all she felt was one little prick to her thumb, but at least it was something. She had to look at it as the smallest of bright lights down an impossibly long and dark tunnel.

Derek went through and tried a few more times. Arizona never felt another prick and with each question that tunnel seemed to grow even longer, but she forced herself to remember that all tunnels end eventually. Finally Derek said, "You can open your eyes."

Arizona did as he asked and watched the serious expression on his face. "Well, that was less than perfect," she finally assessed for herself, trying to sound lighter than she felt.

"Like Derek said, there's still a ton of inflammation. Your body is doing its best to fight off the onslaught. You know that," Mark offered from where he stood behind Derek. "Just don't get too discouraged until there's been time for the swelling to go down."

Derek nodded and added, "There could also be a little whiplash or even a pinched nerve from the rapid deceleration as the plane crashed that's adding to the problem. We'll keep an eye on things over the next few days. Once the sepsis and inflammation have resolved, we'll work on a surgical solution if need be. I'm cautiously optimistic that you'll get at least some function back."

"Will it be enough to operate?" she asked, her voice sounding incredibly desperate to her ears.

"I don't know," Derek said with a hint of regret in his voice.

Arizona closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was hard not to know and it was even harder to have to deal with the fear, but she was going to have to live with whatever the outcome was. She opened her eyes and immediately looked to Callie for support. She smiled, this time a little more genuinely. "I'm alive and with you and that's the important thing."

"It is." Callie's smile grew even as her eyes misted up. She leaned down and gently kissed Arizona's forehead. "We'll get through this together. Don't you worry."

"At least I'll be a much better patient than you were," Arizona said with a gentle jibe.

"So competitive," Callie answered her with a hint of humor.

Arizona smiled at her and then turned back to Derek. "Okay, so we'll give it time and then figure out what we need to do."

He smiled at her supportively before placing a brace on her elbow. "Like I said, I don't want you bending that elbow just yet. I know you can't move it now, but it could all come back quickly once the tissue around your nerves returns to normal, so better safe than sorry. Also, we'll get some scans of the wound tomorrow when we get your head CT. That'll help us know where we are, too."

She nodded at him and then focused on Bailey, who had moved over to stand next to Derek. "Okay, Dr. Bailey, how are my internal organs doing?"

"As far as the sepsis goes, things are slowly improving. Your pressure's rising, your pulse ox is holding steady since we took you off the vent, and your white blood cell count has gotten down to just over 14,000."

"Still have a way to go to hit normal though," Arizona said as she craned her neck up to look at the monitor over her shoulder. She glanced at the BP and the heart monitor and felt slightly reassured that both seemed to be getting close to normal. But there was more to being okay than how her circulatory system was doing. She looked back at Bailey. "What about my creatinine and urea levels?"

Bailey took a deep breath that was not particularly comforting. "Those levels aren't improving quite as quickly, but we just started the dialysis. I discussed with Dr. Webber about moving you to continuous dialysis and we're researching that right now. The research shows it might be a little more beneficial, but we want to make sure there are no long term side effects. We're planning on meeting first thing tomorrow to make our decision. Either way, we'll probably keep you on dialysis for the next few days to give your kidneys the support to heal. In the meantime, like your arm, we just need to wait and see. You know that."

Arizona nodded with a feeling of slight defeat. "It's much easier to say that than hear it, though."

Bailey laid a gentle hand on her leg. "We're going to run a full blood panel again before we meet in the morning. We'll let you know then how we're going to proceed."

"Thanks," Arizona said. She closed her eyes, feeling weary tears start to fill them and not wanting to cry in front of her friends. Without opening them she asked, "Is there anything else?"

A round of negative answers came to her and brought Arizona a sense of relief. As much as she wanted to have as much information as she could, right in this second she just wanted them to be gone.

"Thanks, everyone," Callie said. Then a few seconds later she said, "The coast is clear."

Arizona let out a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. She opened her eyes and looked up at Callie. "I'm not reassured," she whispered, almost afraid of the words as they came out of her mouth. And then the tears and sobs began.

Callie quickly climbed up onto the bed and lay down next to Arizona, pulling her into her strong arms and whispering into her ear, "I love you, Arizona. I love you so, so much. We'll get you through this."

Callie continued to whisper calming words into her ear and holding her tight as first the sobs and then the tears slowly ebbed until she finally felt an amazing serenity as she lay with her head tucked up under Callie's chin, snuggled into her warm embrace. "Thank you," she finally whispered.

"Really, I was just looking for an excuse to get into bed with you."

Arizona laughed quietly. "Ah, you are so transparent at times." She looked up at Callie but was unable to see her eyes. "Hey, look at me for a second."

Callie shifted her position so that Arizona's head was back on her pillow and she was leaning down over her. "Better?"

Arizona nodded but felt all the swirl of emotion she had been going through almost overwhelm her again. "Callie, I'm scared. I'm really scared."

"I know. And there's nothing I can say right now that will make this less scary for you. Or for me." Tears started to well in the dark eyes looking down at Arizona. "I'm scared too."

Seeing that fear in Callie's eyes instantly put Arizona into a protective mode, making all her own fears take a back seat. "I'm here, Callie. Really, as much as the outcome terrifies me, as much as I don't want to think about my arm or my kidneys not recovering, I'm holding on to us. We have each other and we have Sofia. And we can get through anything together. Right?"

"Anything," Callie said as a sad smile spread to her lips. She dropped her head and repositioned them so they were back in their previous position. "Now, why don't you rest up a bit before your parents get here, okay?"

Arizona sighed in contentment and closed her eyes. "Is your mom really here?" she said as exhaustion started to grab ahold of her.

"She is, but I haven't spoken with her really. I hear she's made some progress when it comes to how I live my life."

"You'll talk to her tomorrow, right?" Arizona struggled to stay awake, because she knew this was important.

"I promise."

"And you're going to go home tonight, give Sofia a good night kiss, and sleep in our big comfy bed, right?" Making Callie take care of herself was all Arizona could do right now, but she was bound and determined to do what she could.

"I will if you go to sleep right now. I'll wake you up when your parents get here."

"Okay," Arizona mumbled as sleep started to pull her under. "Love you," she managed as she drifted off.

* * *

><p>Arizona woke up, feeling incredibly drowsy, but surprisingly she wasn't in much pain. She blinked her eyes open and squinted against the light in her room.<p>

"Hi, honey," she heard her mother say from the right side of her bed.

She turned her head and saw both her parents standing right up against the edge of the bed. She smiled wearily. "Hi, Mom and Dad. Sorry if I worried you."

Her father smiled and shook his head. "We're just glad you're safe."

Her mother nodded and reached out to rub her shoulder. "You're going to be okay."

Arizona looked around the room quickly. "Where's Callie?"

"She said her back was sore, so we told her to go for a walk," her father answered.

While she was disappointed to wake up and not find Callie there, she knew her wife had been spending way too much time curled up in chairs or on the thin cot that they had brought into her room. _I have to make sure she goes home tonight so she can get a good night's sleep. All we need right now is for her to get sick, too. _"Thank you. Sometimes she forgets to take care of herself."

Daniel sat down at the foot of her bed and patted her leg. "She's been really incredible through this whole thing. I'm happy you have her looking out for you."

Arizona smiled with a slight nod. "She's great. And I'm glad she called you guys. But I'm sorry you had to fly all the way out here."

"Oh, honey," her mother said as she squeezed Arizona's hand, "you know we'd do anything for you."

"Arizona, how are you feeling?" her father asked.

She shrugged slightly. "The morphine helps with the pain. And I'm really tired. So, please don't take it personally if I start to fall asleep on you."

Her father stood up and moved up so that he could kiss her on the forehead. "No worries. If you need to sleep, you go ahead and do that. We can always come back tomorrow and see you then."

"I…" Arizona stopped and shook her head. Having her parents there reminded her of the visions she had had while she was unconscious and the worries and fears those encounters had brought up. "Dad, I want to talk to Mom about something. Would you mind giving us a few minutes?"

Her father nodded his head. "That's okay. I'll go find Callie and tell her you woke up." He patted her arm as he walked out of the room.

Barbara's brow furrowed as she pulled the guest chair closer to her daughter and sat down. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's really wrong," Arizona said quietly. She took a deep breath and then swallowed her apprehension. "The morning of the crash, Callie and I had an argument about having another baby." Her mother started to say something and Arizona held up her hand. "No, it's not that we don't want to have another child. We do. It's just who's going to carry the child." Her mother seemed confused. "There's a chance Callie might not be able to, after the emergency C-section she had. And I'm not sure I want to carry a child. I'm…" Now that she was giving voice to all her fears and reasons, she was having a hard time admitting her apprehension. She was afraid it would make her sound selfish or stupid.

Her mother squinted for a moment and then ventured, "Are you afraid you'll miscarry, like I did? You're the doctor. Is that something that's genetic?"

"That's not likely," Arizona answered quickly. "But I have to admit that's maybe a part of it. The fear I mean, not the genetic part. I guess I'm just afraid that something will go wrong, either when I'm pregnant or after the baby is born. I'm not sure I could handle that."

Her mother shook her head, a confused look on her face. "I'm not sure I understand, Arizona. You said you want another child. If something happens to Sofia or any other child you two have, that's going to be devastating, I know. But you can't live your life in fear of that."

Tears stung Arizona's eyes and suddenly the words came tumbling out. "I'm afraid it'll hurt more if I'm the one who has the child. I saw how hard it was for you when Timothy died. I've seen so many parents lose children. I think about how scared I was when Sofia was in the NICU and that was horrible enough."

"Oh, honey," her mother said as she rubbed up and down Arizona's right arm, just like she always had when soothing her daughter's fears as a child. "You think that was horrible enough, because that's about as horrible as it gets. I don't think whether Callie has your children, or you have the children, or you adopt makes any difference. You will love those kids the same. You'll love them with all you have. You'll laugh with them the same, you'll cry with them the same, and you'll be afraid for their safety the same. The joy and the pain will be just the same. Every parent worries that they'll love one child more than the other. Or at least I did. But I don't think it has anything to do with how those kids come in to your life. And at least my experience was that I loved you both equally. Love is love, honey. You of all people should know that."

Arizona wanted to believe it. She wanted so much to believe it but she was still so afraid. "How can you know for sure? You don't have any source of comparison."

"Then talk to someone who does," her mother said calmly. "Why don't you talk to Callie's father? He and Lucia were telling us about themselves and they mentioned that Lucia's first husband died and Carlos didn't start raising her oldest daughter until Aria was almost five. I bet you he could give you a good comparison."

Arizona nodded but didn't say anything. While she liked her father-in-law, she was far from close with him, and she wasn't sure she could make herself vulnerable enough to talk about her fears with him. "That's a good idea," she finally said, not wanting to voice her apprehension about talking with Carlos.

"Have you told Callie about this?"

Arizona's eyes dropped and she shook her head. "The fight was really the first time we said anything about me having a child. And to be honest, I wasn't really aware even then what I was afraid of." She bit her lip. "Would you think I was crazy if I told you I had some dreams while I was unconscious? I guess you would even call them visions or visits."

Barbara's eyebrow shot up in question. "Visits? What kind of visits?"

"I know that it's a little strange, especially coming from me. I've never been a big believer in an afterlife." She bit at her lip. "I saw Dad's father." She paused a moment and then added more quietly, "And I saw Timothy."

"Timothy?" Barbara sat up straight and she had a strange look on her face. "Do you think it was real or just something you dreamt?"

"Mom, I don't know," Arizona said quickly, not wanting to raise her mother's hopes that she had truly seen her brother. "It was probably just my subconscious helping me realize what I was afraid of so I could deal with it." She reached out and placed her hand on her mother's wrist. "I wish I could say for sure it was anything else."

Her mother seemed like she was going to say something but then she finally just nodded. "I wish you could, too. But if it helped you realize what your fears are so you can address them, then I guess it doesn't matter whether it was a dream or a vision or whatever. As long as it helped you."

Arizona could tell her mother was having a problem just letting it go, but she was glad she wasn't pressing the matter, nonetheless. Maybe later, when she was feeling better and had time to really process everything that she had experienced while she was unconscious, they could discuss it, but right now she just couldn't manage that discussion. "Thanks, Mom. And I promise you, I'll talk to Callie about it."

"You'll talk to me about what?"

Callie's voice from the doorway made Arizona look up and an instantaneous smile sprang to her lips. "We'll talk later. When it's not so late and you don't have to get home and get a good night's rest."

"You're kicking me out?" Calliope had a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Yes, I am. No cot for you tonight. You promised. You are going home, you are going to go give our little girl a kiss goodnight, and then you are going to get a good night's sleep in our big and comfy bed. Is that understood?" She smiled at Callie.

"Yes, ma'am," Callie said with a big laugh.

Barbara stood up as Daniel moved through the door and came to stand next to her mother. She leaned down to kiss her daughter on her cheek. "Your dad and I are going to head back to the hotel now so you can rest, too. We'll be by tomorrow to see you, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan," she said as she lifted her head to kiss her father's cheek as he, too, bent down over her. Both her parents hesitated awkwardly but then finally left after each giving Callie a hug on their way out.

Once her parents were gone, Arizona patted the bed next to her. When Callie came over and sat down, Arizona took her hand and said, "I want you to call your mother in the morning and set up a time to talk to her, okay? Before you come back here, please."

"You're awfully demanding when you're drugged up on morphine," Callie said with a smile.

"It's good for removing inhibitions," Arizona admitted. "But you need to talk to her. And you need to go get a real night's sleep. I don't want you getting sick from exhaustion."

"Still looking out for me, huh?" Callie said as she stretched out beside Arizona, pulling her in to tuck the blonde head under her chin again. "Now let me hold you until you fall asleep, okay? And then I'll head home, I promise."

"Sounds perfect," Arizona said. "Can you reach the morphine trigger and give me a hit? It'll help me sleep."

Callie maneuvered around and gave the button a push with her thumb. "Okay, give it a second and you should start feeling it." She kissed Arizona on the crown of her head. "Go to sleep and I'll see you in the morning. I love you and Sofia loves you."

"I love you both," Arizona said as her eyes became heavy. "Sleep well, Callie. You're the best wife ever."

She heard Callie's quiet laughter as she drifted off to sleep and it made her smile.

* * *

><p>Callie rapped her knuckles on Mark's apartment door and waited, leaning up against the apartment hallway wall. When Mark opened the door, she smiled, "Hope I didn't wake you."<p>

"Nope. Come on in." He held the door open for her and then followed her into the living room. "Sofia's been asleep for about forty minutes."

"Okay. Let me just give her a goodnight kiss. Do you have any wine? I could use a glass."

"I've got a nice white Bordeaux chilling, a 2007 Domaine de Chevalier," he called after her as she entered the baby's room.

"You're drinking white now?" she asked as she poked her head back out of the door, not wanting to raise her voice and risk waking her daughter. "That seems a little, I don't know, girly of you."

There was laughter in his voice. "Sometimes I like to keep it light. And besides, I got it as a gift. If you won't drink it with me, who will?"

She smiled brightly at him, amused at his explanation. "Pull it out so it won't be so cold. I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Like I would serve a full-bodied white at fridge temps. Do you think I'm a Neanderthal? No, wait, don't answer that." He frowned at her, but there was humor sparkling in his eyes. "I've got it in the wine chiller so it's already at a perfect 55 degrees."

She rolled her eyes with an amused shake of her head and went back into Sofia's room. She padded over quietly, her smile only growing as she took in the sight of her daughter peacefully sleeping with her little fists tucked up under her chin. She just looked down at Sofia for a few long moments, watching her chest rise and fall in steady breaths. "Hi, Baby Boo," she whispered as she reached down to run a finger along one soft cheek.

She spent a few more moments just drinking in the innocence and calm that Sofia exuded as she slept. There was nothing more soothing than watching her daughter sleep, and she realized as she stood there how much she needed to give her mind a few minutes to just shut off and be in the moment without the worries about Arizona's health or anything else that was going on in their lives.

Finally, she took a deep breath and pulled herself back into the moment. "Your mama and I love you so much, Sofia," she said in barely a whisper. "She's going to have a really long road ahead of her, but she was patient with us when we needed time, so we'll be patient with her, right?"

Callie smiled as Sofia shifted slightly, kicking out with one of her legs before sighing quietly as she drifted back into her deep slumber. She waited a few moments to make sure her daughter was truly asleep again before leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on the soft cheek. "Sweet dreams, Sofia. Sleep well and I'll see you in the morning." With one final look at the little baby, she turned and left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

"Still asleep, huh?" Mark asked from where he was sitting on the couch.

"She's an angel when she sleeps." Callie slid down on the couch next to him and took the wine glass he offered. She took a small drink, letting the fruity taste fill her mouth and a lazy smile touch her lips. She swallowed and smiled. "Wow, that's good."

Mark held his glass up in a toast and said, "Only the best for you."

Callie returned the gesture and took another sip. "I appreciate it." She let her head fall wearily against the back of the couch. "But sorry I probably can only enjoy one glass. I'm exhausted."

Mark looked at her for a few moments, concern written on his face. "I'm sure no one has asked you this. How are you doing?"

Callie let out a tired, dry laugh. "You're right, no one has really asked. So thank you." She sipped the wine while she considered Mark's question. It would be easy to say that she was fine, and with almost anyone else she would have sugarcoated how she was feeling, but with Mark she knew she could be honest. "I'm exhausted and I'm terrified. What if she doesn't truly recover?" She could feel tears stinging at her eyes and she knew her voice sounded tight. "What if this changes her, Mark? And I'm not just talking about physically."

Mark put his glass down on the coffee table and moved over a little closer to Callie. He placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed at the tension there. "You can't know how this is going to work out. Arizona is strong and she's a fighter. But I don't think anyone can go through a major accident and not be changed. Don't you feel like you were changed by your accident?"

Callie took a moment to stare down at the liquid in her glass before she took a large drink. "It's hard to say whether the changes I felt were because of the accident itself or because Sofia was born. Too much changed in a short period of time to separate all the events. But, yes, I am a little different. I'm stronger. I trust in my relationship with Arizona more, but there's also just a little more darkness that nibbles at the edges. Things can never be as simple as they were before." She took another sip and then laughed. "And now I can only operate for five hours without a bathroom break. But I think that's because Sofia used to use my bladder as a soccer ball."

Mark laughed along with her and reached for the wine bottle. He topped off both of their glasses and then took another sip from his own. "I don't know two people who have a healthier relationship than you and Arizona. You've both been through so much and you've come out stronger in the end. I'm not saying you guys are perfect, but you've learned how to work together to get through the tough stuff. You'll need to keep doing that so you can support each other through the months ahead."

"I know," Callie said, trying hard to believe that they could overcome everything as long as they were together. It was easy to say and she wanted so much to believe it. She let out a dry snort of laughter and shrugged. "You know me. I don't like not to know what is coming. I like to be prepared and have the information that I need. But right now there's too much that can still go wrong and I'm not in control. And neither is Arizona. We're both too Type A for this. I'm afraid it'll drive us both crazy."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Just roll with it, Torres. You can do it. You do it with Sofia all the time. I would think being a mother has taught you to handle things as they come." He put his glass back down and leaned forward, putting both hands on her cheeks and forcing her to look him in the eyes. "Who knows what is going to happen. She might be able to use her arm, she might not. Her kidneys may recover or they won't. You might win the lottery tomorrow or you'll waste a few bucks."

"I don't play the lottery," Callie quickly interjected.

"Don't interrupt my point," Mark said with a ghost of a smile. "What I'm trying to say is that life is uncertain. One minute you're crying in a dirty bar bathroom and the next you're being kissed by a hot blonde. Life can change in an instant and no one is ever prepared. You'll figure it out. You both will. Just do your best every day and it'll all be fine." He sat back, letting his hands fall. "It'll be fine even when it's not, because you've found the love of your life and I know you. You'll fight to the very end to help her through this."

"Okay, Dr. Ruth," she said with a laugh, needing to make light of the situation and break the seriousness that had suddenly settled on them. "I appreciate your relationship advice. It was very deep, especially coming from you." She laughed again and then drained the last of her wine. "Now, I really need to get home and get some sleep."

"Want to do breakfast? I picked up a loaf of challah. I'll make French toast and I have applewood smoked bacon. Come on, you can't say no to bacon." He poked at her stomach playfully.

"You know me too well. Okay, how about I come over around 7? That way I can feed Sofia, too. I miss the easy routine of taking care of her."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll see you in the morning." He leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her forehead. "Sleep well."

She stopped him from pulling away and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. "Thank you. I don't care what anyone says. You are the best friend I have ever had. Well, except for Arizona, of course."

"Ditto, Torres," Mark said with a light laugh as he held her in a strong hug.

"Alright, bed," she said as she broke away and stood up. "See you in the morning." She picked up her purse and quickly left the apartment, feeling the incredible pull of sleep as the events of the previous two days suddenly seemed to hit her full force.

It was all she could do to get her key in the door and make her way into the bedroom. She barely even managed to pull on an old t-shirt and some shorts before crawling into bed. But once there, she felt just enough restlessness to keep her from falling into an instantaneous sleep. She reached over to Arizona's pillow and pulled it to her face, breathing in the faint smell of her wife and smiling. "Goodnight, Arizona," she whispered as she hugged the pillow to her tightly, feeling a calm wash over her at the hint of Arizona's presence. Only then was she able to quickly drift off into sleep.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long. I just have not been in much of a writing mood. Not to mention when I did write, I'd decide after writing whole scenes that they were too repetitive (I mean how many times can Arizona be angsty about her arm to different people only to have them tell her to be patient?) so I'd toss them. Hopefully the next update won't take so long, but I'm not promising anything. Sorry!

Thanks as always for the comments. I know I'm never going to hit the nail on the head for everyone as to how the characters react. But I write the characters the way I interpret them, and that's enough for me. I just hope it rings true for some of you.

* * *

><p>Chapter Ten<p>

Callie made an airplane noise as she moved the spoon around in large circular motions on its way into Sofia's open mouth. "You do so love this cereal," Callie said with a quiet laugh as she watched her daughter's contented face as she worked to swallow the mush.

"Let's enjoy it while we can," Mark said from where he was standing at the stove watching over a skillet filled with amazing-smelling bacon. "Before long she'll be making a mess when she tries to feed herself and then after that comes the three to four years of nothing but chicken nuggets."

Callie chuckled as she loaded up the spoon again. "Well at least chicken nuggets are easy to microwave. My mom always reminds me how I went through about two straight years of a plantain addiction. She was constantly cooking them for me."

"Speaking of your mother, have you talked to her yet?"

Callie rolled her eyes. "No, but I do need to call her this morning. Arizona made me promise I'd set up a time to talk with her before I go back to the hospital." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "Guess there's no time like the present, huh?" She stared at the phone for a moment, trying to psych herself up to make the call. She had so many mixed emotions when it came to her mother, and with all the other emotions currently swirling around in her, having to deal with this was really not something she felt like she wanted to do. _You promised Arizona,_ she told herself as she sighed and dialed. She held the phone up to her ear with her shoulder while continuing to feed Sofia. Focusing on her daughter helped balance out the apprehension she felt.

The phone only rang once before being answered. "Calliope?" Her mother's voice was hesitant, almost fearful.

"Hi, Mom. I'm sorry I haven't called earlier."

"Oh, honey, no. You need to focus on Arizona right now. My timing stinks I know. How is she?" She sounded concerned but it was hard to know how sincere she was over the phone.

"She's doing better. There's still a way to go, but she's stable. I'll know more when I get back over there this morning." Callie took a deep breath, trying so hard to push aside the hurt and pain she'd harbored toward her mother since her wedding. "Look, do you think we can meet up today, maybe get some lunch?"

"I don't need to get back to Miami right away. If you want to wait a few days until Arizona is doing better, I can wait." There was a quiet sigh. "I know I've messed up a lot here, Calliope." There was a pause before she continued. "And I know your family needs to be your top priority."

Callie was torn by her mother's reaction. There was a part of her that wanted to hold on to the hurt and the anger over how her mother had reacted before the wedding. And that part of her wasn't sure if her mother was just saying the right thing to say it. But then there was a larger part of her that really wanted to repair their relationship and find a way to be in each other's lives, and that part heard her mother's words and was buoyed by the sentiment. She made the decision to give her mother the benefit of the doubt, at least for now. "Arizona is my top priority right now, but I want to talk with you and I can find the time. Besides, Arizona was the one who told me I had to make time to talk to you."

"That's wonderful of her," Lucia said. "She seems like she's very supportive."

"She is. That's what a wife does," Callie said, with a definite emphasis on the word wife.

"Yes, that's very true," Lucia said, but there was just a hint of tension in her voice.

_She's still not really comfortable with that. _Callie took a deep breath to keep any irritation out of her voice. "Look, I need to get Sofia ready and get back to the hospital. How about I meet you at the hotel around noon? It's probably easiest if we just catch lunch there."

"Why don't you come up to our room? We can get room service and have a real chance to talk." There was a pause and then Callie could hear some muffled talking, as if her mother were blocking the phone while she talked to someone in the room. "Your father says he's got a few friends to visit while he's in town, so we'll have the room to ourselves."

For a moment Callie wondered if her mother was embarrassed to talk about her gay daughter or her bastard granddaughter in public. It was too easy to go back and remember how uncomfortable her mother had been less than a year before. She had little doubt that there was still some of that at play in her mother's desire to meet in private. But then she also considered the fact that they really needed to have a heart to heart and it would be easier for both of them if they had some privacy. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I'll be over at noon."

"Okay, mija. We're in suite 1201."

"1201. Okay, I'll see you later." She waited for her mother to say her farewell before hanging up and sighing quietly. "I guess that went as well as possible. She at least acknowledged that I have a family and that it's important."

Mark came over to the table, two plates of amazing smelling food in his hands. "She's trying."

"I know. And I will hear her out. But if she hasn't budged on her medieval beliefs, I'm done, Mark. I can't keep hoping she's seen the light and then have it all come crashing down again." She picked up a piece of bacon and munched on it, smiling at the salty goodness. "Thanks for breakfast."

"No problem. And let's not worry about your mother for now, okay? Let's just enjoy all the artery-clogging food on our plates and spend some time with our daughter. The rest of the world can wait for a few minutes."

Callie squinted at Mark. "You've become really kind of mature and wise lately. Have you been replaced by an alien or robot or something?"

"Well, I could prove to you that I'm still me," he began as that familiar playful glint came to his eyes. "No alien or robot would ever have my sexual skills, but to prove that would require us to have a little roll in the hay and I know that's verboten." He smiled, clearly joking with her.

She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Nope, you're still you."

They both laughed and went back to eating their breakfast.

* * *

><p>Arizona stared up at the ceiling and tried to force her brain to quiet down. <em>It's the inflammation. Just the inflammation.<em> Still it just did not seem to work and she rolled her eyes in frustration. She looked down at her left arm again, struggling to force her fingers to move, but nothing happened. She let out a long breath and felt tears run down the side of her face. "Dammit!"

"Hey, watch that language."

Callie's joking rebuke made Arizona's head pop up to find her wife standing in the doorway, a bright yet hesitant smile on her face. All the tension and frustration she had been feeling fell away in that moment of seeing the one person she knew would always be there for her and she felt her own smile come brightly to her lips. "Well, I guess the one advantage to being here and not at home is I'm allowed to cuss with no baby in earshot." Just the casual mention of their daughter brought a hint of the tension back as she felt the absence of Sofia in her daily routine. "How is our baby girl today?"

"Good," Callie said as she came more fully into the room. She took a moment to place a duffel bag and a plastic shopping bag down on the guest chair before coming over to Arizona's bedside. "She's eating like pig, but she misses her mama, that's for sure."

"I miss her, too," Arizona said as she reached out and took Callie's hand. "I missed you, too."

"Me, too," Callie said as she leaned down and gave Arizona a kiss that lingered for a few tender moments. "Good morning. How are you feeling?"

Arizona looked up into the deep brown eyes, just inches away, that stared into her own and were so full of concern and love it almost took her breath away. She reminded herself for likely the millionth time just that week how lucky and truly blessed she was to have found Callie and have this amazing woman as part of her life. _More so now than ever. I can't imagine going through this without her._ "I'm feeling a lot better. I haven't even needed an extra hit of morphine yet today. And that includes all the jostling around with my morning blood work and scans."

"How'd that all go?" Callie asked as she stood back up and pulled the side barricade down off the bed so she could sit down right next to Arizona. She instantly took up Arizona's hand and played with her fingers absently as she focused her attention on her wife.

"Not bad. I was surprised I wasn't in more pain through all the moving from bed to gurney and back. Webber oversaw most of it. He said something about Bailey being in late because of car trouble. I guess once she gets in and gets up to speed, we'll hear. They only brought me back a few minutes ago and she still wasn't here as far as I know."

"Good," Callie said as she smiled. "That gives us time for me to pamper you a bit."

Arizona's interest was piqued and she smiled. "Pamper?"

Callie got up and grabbed the shopping bag she had brought with her, bringing it over to the rolling table next to Arizona's bed. "I stopped by the store and picked up a few things to help you freshen up." She pulled out a toothbrush and some toothpaste, a small container of the skin cream Arizona used, and a container of dry shampoo. "I figured you'd prefer I be the one to give you a sponge bath rather than one of the nurses. And I brought a few of your favorite things to enhance the experience. It'll be a few days before you can really bathe, after all."

Arizona's smile brightened with each item that Callie pulled out of the bag. While she had been cleaned up at some point while she was unconscious, she still felt just a little icky from being in bed constantly with no way to even wash her face. "Have I told you how much I love you lately?"

"Not today," Callie said with a bright grin. She leaned over and gave Arizona another light kiss. "And I love you, too. Besides, I'm not being entirely unselfish here. You are just a tad ripe right now," she said with a playful crinkle of her nose.

Arizona rolled her eyes but couldn't help laughing. "But, more seriously, thank you for getting my favorite toothpaste and the lotion. The stuff they have here is just nasty."

"I remember it all too well," Callie said as she went over to the cabinet below the sink and pulled out the basin and the other supplies needed for a hospital-approved sponge bath. "I just wish I didn't have to use this stuff," she said as she held up the body wash.

"Well, let's just put it on the to-do list to ask someone to approve something less abrasive as soon as my incisions have healed enough," Arizona suggested.

Callie nodded as she placed the final items needed on the side table. She then went and pulled the curtain that ran along the front of the ICU room. The staff all knew to knock before entering a room with the curtain closed, so this would afford them some much needed privacy. Not that Arizona was ready for anything other than lying around and allowing Callie to get her cleaned up, but it was also just nice to be completely alone with one another.

Callie filled the basin with water and took a moment to wash her hands. As she brought the basin over to the bedside table she whispered, "Don't tell on me that I'm not going to wear gloves."

Arizona smiled brightly as she nodded. "It'll be our little secret."

Callie took her time to gently slide the sponge along Arizona's skin while making small talk. Arizona was grateful for the distraction of their conversation, because her skin felt like it was on overload. Every touch was like electric coursing through her, but not in the way Callie's touch normally affected her. It wasn't sexual at all. Instead, it was just so full of caring that it caused an amazing amount of emotion to well up in Arizona, so much so that she found herself on the edge of tears.

Callie must have noticed, because she stopped and looked down at Arizona with a worried furrow to her brow. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

Arizona had to swallow to get beyond the lump that was in her throat and she shook her head quickly to try to counter Callie's worry. "No, not at all." She smiled as Callie reached up and ran a finger right under Arizona's eyes to catch the tears just starting to spill out. "It's just we've come so close to losing one another a few times now. I'm just so happy we're both still here with each other."

Callie drew in a sharp breath and Arizona could see the emotion play across her face. She tossed the sponge into the wash basin and sat down on the side of Arizona's bed. "I don't ever want to know what it's like to live without you."

"Can you promise me something?" Arizona had faced both the prospect of Callie dying and her own death in less than a year, and it made her realize she needed to get something off her chest. It was incredibly selfish, she knew, but for some reason it was important to her in that moment. "Promise me that if anything happens to me and you're ready to get out and date again that you will date anyone but Mark."

Callie broke out in laughter. "Well, besides the fact that I'd rather we not talk about anything happening to you or to me for that matter, I guess I can promise that. No dating Mark. No friends with benefits either."

Arizona laughed along with her. "I'll even promise you that if you die first, I won't date Mark either."

Callie's laughter continued even as she rolled her eyes. "You still suck at jokes."

"Then why are you laughing?" Arizona knew full well Callie found her funny. Their shared sense of humor was one of the first things that had made Arizona know this relationship could go somewhere even when she had doubts about dating someone so new to being with women.

"You got me." Callie admitted as she slid closer to Arizona on the bed. She leaned down so their faces were only a few inches apart. "You've always got me," she whispered before placing a gentle kiss on Arizona's lips. When they pulled apart, she was more sober. "And, seriously, I do promise no Mark, okay?" She bit at her lip and Arizona saw it tremble slightly. "But, really, let's not talk about this. It's all a little too fresh."

Arizona blinked at the vulnerability that was in Callie's voice. "I'm sorry. I—" She took a deep breath. "I'll do my best not to go anywhere anytime soon, okay? I mean, I landed a damn plane to get back to you and Sofia. I'd walk through Hell itself if I had to."

"Me too," Callie whispered. She then got a glint in her eye. "In fact, I'm going to walk through Hell at your request later today. I'm having lunch with my mother."

"I'm glad." Arizona reached up and cupped Callie's cheek. "And keep an open mind, okay?"

"I promise."

"Okay." It felt good to have an honest discussion with Callie, to address some of the issues that were weighing heavily on her, so Arizona decided she'd tackle the elephant that she felt in the room. "I'm sorry about our fight. Before the crash. I shouldn't have run off like that." She bit at her lip.

Callie's eyes went wide for a moment before she looked down at where her fingers were suddenly picking nervously at the blanket on Arizona's bed. "I pushed your buttons once you said you didn't want to get pregnant. I should never use Timothy against you in a fight. That was so wrong of me. I know that and I'm sorry." She finally looked up at Arizona. "And I know bringing Mark into it was dumb. My mouth opened before my brain had a moment to think about it."

Arizona nodded. "Thank you for your apology and I forgive you for bringing Timothy into it. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. But, look, I'm still not sure how I feel about being the one to get pregnant. I still need some time to figure that out. But I do know that whether you get pregnant or I get pregnant, I don't want Mark to be the sperm donor. It's not that I don't love him, because I do." She reached down and took Callie's hand in her own. "I just want to have the chance to have a child with just the two of us involved." She laughed quietly. "Well at least until our kid is eighteen and wants to meet the sperm donor."

"I get that," Callie said as she cupped Arizona's right hand between both of her own. "I mean the only thing that sucks about being married to you is the fact that we can't just have a child on our own." She smiled broadly. "Because, let's face it, if science could find a way for two women to somehow have a kid, we'd have some pretty beautiful kids."

Arizona smiled at the thought. "Yeah, your dominant dark Latina genes would likely overpower my recessive northern European ones, so our kids would probably look basically like you." She thought about that for a moment and smiled. "Yup, I'd say they'd be beautiful then."

Callie rolled her eyes with an amused look on her face. "Ah, you're even a charming flirt while laid up in a hospital bed." She then got a little more serious. "But back to the matter at hand. I agree I want to have our next child be just about you and me and our family. No sperm donations from anyone we know. I love having Mark in Sofia's life, but it would be nice to have the chance to share a future pregnancy just with you."

"Thank you. And I promise I'll think more about the question of being the one who gets pregnant if you can't." She shrugged with a quiet puff of laughter. "I've got little else to do for huge chunks of my day while I'm stuck here, after all."

"No, I should be the one to thank you," Callie said as she leaned down and gave Arizona a soft kiss. She then rested their foreheads together. "When you're ready, we'll talk about it like mature adults and come to a decision that works for both of us. And I promise I won't push you to do something you don't want to do."

Arizona looked into Callie's eyes. "I love you, Calliope."

"I love you, too," Callie whispered before giving her another kiss and sitting back up. "So, any more serious topics of discussion before I finish cleaning you up?"

"Nope," Arizona responded with a broad grin. She motioned with her head to the wash basin. "Why don't you warm that up a bit and get back to my sponge bath? Bailey could be here any minute now and I want to enjoy this as much as I can before then."

Callie stood up and picked up the basin so she could take it over to the sink for a refill. "Your wish is my command."

* * *

><p>Lucia smiled at Callie as she opened the hotel room door. "Calliope, I'm so glad to see you." She hesitated awkwardly before taking a step back so that Callie could walk into the room.<p>

"It's good to see you, too," Callie said, also feeling unsure how to act around her mother. She considered breaking the ice by hugging her, as they normally would when seeing each other, but then she remembered why they were in this awkward position in the first place. She walked into the room, noticing the room service cart sitting over near a small table by the window. "You ordered?"

"I hope you don't mind," her mother said as she closed the door and went over toward the table. "I figured you'd want to get back to the hospital as soon as possible and sometimes it can take a while to get room service. I ordered you chicken marsala."

"That's fine."

They sat down and began eating in silence. Callie kept shooting her mother looks as she ate her lunch, unsure whether she should start and finally deciding that she would be stubborn. _She's the one who needs to apologize, so she needs to start. _

Finally her mother put her fork down and took a long drink of water before clearing her throat. "I've been planning on coming out to see you the last few weeks, to talk, but work got busy. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner so we could have talked about this at a better time."

"Okay," Callie said slowly, with a measure of uncertainty in her voice. "What did you want to say?"

Lucia took a deep breath and then turned to face Callie more directly. "I've given things more thought and I've prayed about it. I've prayed about it a lot. I talked to Father Kevin, to Monseigneur Augustino and even to this new nun in the parish, Sister Mary Francis. Calliope, I realize now that it's not my place to judge. I can't know how God will judge you and so really all I can do is love you. And I do, _mija_, I love you so much."

Callie watched her mother's facial expressions and realized she was being totally sincere. That at least was a relief, but still, a mother should love her daughter. Her mother wasn't offering anything special by telling her that. The real question was could her mother love her daughter's life and choices. "And what about Arizona? What about Sofia? You can't be in my life without also being in their lives. You said it earlier. We're a family now. And that makes us a package deal."

Lucia's eyes fell for a moment before she looked back up at Callie. "I'm not going to lie. I wish you had married a man, in the Church, and had a family. That's the dream I had for you from the time you were born."

Callie started to say something, but Lucia held up her hand to stop her.

"Please, just let me finish." Lucia reached out to gently touch Callie's hand. "Yes, that was the dream I had for you, but the most important part of that dream was that you would find someone who truly loved you and that you would be happy. And I know that Arizona loves you, deeply and truly loves you. I was here long enough to see that, even if maybe at the time I didn't want to believe it. And your father has made a point of reminding me how much she loves you on almost a daily basis. And you're happy, right?"

The question instantly made Callie smile. "Arizona really does make me happy. And I love her, more than I've ever loved anyone. Way more."

Lucia smiled genuinely at that. "I'm glad you're happy. So, yes, I can accept Arizona and Sofia as part of your life and part of mine. Life isn't always what we dream it will be, but that doesn't mean we turn our backs on what comes of it." She paused for a moment, her eyes drifting back down to the table, and then said, "I do have a very small 'but' to add, though."

"Uh oh." Callie had just allowed herself to be hopeful for the relationship she had with her mother and already she was throwing a monkey wrench into the situation. "I'm kind of afraid to ask."

"I'm very Catholic. I don't think that's news to anyone. And, so, while I can accept that you are in a loving and committed relationship with Arizona, one that you plan to last the rest of your lives, I just can't call it a marriage." She cringed slightly, as if she were waiting for Calliope to snap back at her.

But Callie instantly knew where her mother was going. "It's a sacrament, and I didn't get married in the Church."

Lucia nodded. "To be truly honest, I didn't think of you and George as being married either. Not really. I just was afraid to say anything about it, because I didn't want to upset you."

Callie laughed quietly. "I guess the Church of Elvis isn't exactly St. Peter's."

Lucia shook her head. "No, it's not. So, can you accept that I have to draw the line there? That I want to have you and Arizona and Sofia in my life? I will support your family and the life you are building. I want to be your mother again and I do want to get to know my granddaughter. I just can't call Arizona your wife. I'm sorry that I can't."

Callie sighed heavily. "I'm not going to stop calling her my wife, even around you, because she is my wife. It doesn't matter what the Church says or what the law says. I made vows before God, the same vows I would have made in a church, and those promises and that love that I feel, that is what makes a marriage." She paused and considered what her mother was asking. As much as she wished her mother could back her fully on this, she understood why her mother felt this way. Just as her mother might not like every choice Callie made, she had to respect her mother's life as well and try to come to terms with what she did not agree with. "I guess we can agree to disagree on this, as long as you're supportive of our relationship overall. If you can treat Arizona like your daughter-in-law, even if you maybe can't use those words, I guess that's better than nothing. I want you in my life, Mom. I want you in Sofia's life and I want you to get a chance to get to really know Arizona, because she's such an amazing person. So, yes, I can accept that line. I may not like it, but I can accept it."

Lucia smiled. "Thank you. And I'm not saying I'm done evolving on this. I promise to keep working on it."

Callie smiled at that. "Okay, and thank you for continuing to work on it. But what about the whole 'baby born out of wedlock' thing?" Callie was really worried if she didn't get all the answers from her mother, if she didn't find out how she truly felt, that there would be other shoes that would drop down the road, and Callie didn't want that to happen.

"Again, it's not how I would have liked you to have a child. And I suspect that you would have preferred her to have been conceived in love and because you wanted her and not because you were hurting that Arizona left."

Callie nodded. "I can't regret what happened, because it gave me my daughter, and she's so wonderful. But I would have rather had her because Arizona and I planned it together, yes."

Lucia squeezed Callie's hands. "Exactly. But she's here and she's your daughter. I can't hold it against her how she came to be. And you all love her so much. Heck, Mark couldn't stop talking about her on the way from the airport. What's done is done and it's not my place to judge what happened. So, yes, I would like to get to know my granddaughter and be a part of her life."

There was still the tiniest part of Callie that was hesitant to take this newly enlightened version of her mother seriously. "So, you really don't think I'm going to Hell because I'm in a relationship with a woman and had a child out of wedlock? What if I have more kids out of wedlock? I'm going to have to since you don't feel I'm actually married and we do want more kids."

Lucia frowned and there were tears in her eyes as she met Callie's gaze. "Sister Mary Francis and I had a few long discussions about this. Everyone is a sinner, Calliope. But as she pointed out, you have no malice in your heart when it comes to your love for Arizona or your daughter. That all stems from love. And I like to think that God takes motivations into account when he's judging someone. You are such a good person, such an amazing person. You save lives and rebuild bodies. You went off to Africa with the Peace Corps when you could have just sat on South Beach and spent our money like most of our friends' kids. And you've built a family based on love. I don't know what God will do, but I hope He'll see all that. I felt like I had all the answers and I don't. I'm not even so sure that what everyone seems to think the Bible says about homosexuality is really what is in there. Sister Mary Francis gave me some great reading material on that question. So, really I don't know and I just can't live my life like I am certain one way or the other. My certainty earlier that God would send you to Hell, well that was just pride on my part. I hope God won't hold that pride against me when it's my time, either."

Callie looked at her mother and did truly believe her. This brought a smile to her face. "Thank you. Thank you not only for coming as far as you have, but for seeking out advice and trying to come to terms with this in the first place. I know it's not easy for you and I love you for it." She stood up and motioned for her mother to do the same. She then went over and wrapped her arms around her mother.

"Thank you, _mija_. And honey I'm so sorry about Arizona being hurt. I know this was so scary for you. I'm glad all our prayers were answered and she's alive and in such good hands."

Callie felt fresh tears come to her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had cried enough in the past few days. "Thank you. It was hard and she still has a lot of recovery ahead of her, but we'll get through it together."

Lucia stepped back from Callie and looked down at the floor for a moment before meeting her daughter's eyes. "Do you think I could see her before I leave town? I want to apologize for how I acted. No matter my opinion on your ceremony, it was still a very special day for you. And I hate to think I might have done something to put a damper on that."

Callie considered letting her mother know exactly how close she had come to cancelling the whole thing, not in small part based on her mother's reaction. But she knew she just wanted to put it all behind her and hope that things could only get better. So, instead she focused on her mother's request. "I'm sure she'd love to see you. And we could spring Sofia from daycare for a little bit so you could see her. If you want."

Lucia's face lit up into a bright smile without a hint of the tension that had hovered over her just the previous year during the wedding preparations. "Yes, I'd like that. I'd like to finally hold her."

"She's getting heavy," Callie said. "So do you want to be Grandma or Abuela? Barbara already claimed Nana, so sorry that's taken."

Lucia smiled with a slight shrug. "Can I be both? I hope you'll teach her Spanish, so whichever she's speaking, then that can be the one she uses." Lucia then tilted her head. "What are you going to be called?"

Callie laughed quietly. "A little while back, Sofia was making nonsense noises, but Arizona is convinced she called her 'mama', so we've decided to go with Arizona being Mama and me being Mommy."

Lucia's smile broadened and again there wasn't a hint of strain in it. "Mommy," she said as if she were trying it out and really liking the sound of it. "I'm sure you're a fantastic mother. I'm very proud of you."

"I'm proud of you, too, Mom." She smiled broadly and then looked back at their unfinished lunch. "Let's eat the rest of this and then we can head over to the hospital, okay? Arizona will be out of ICU by then so we can visit and then we'll go see Sofia."

"Sounds like a plan."

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thanks for all the comments, even the more critical ones. No one is going to always agree how I see the characters. This is my interpretation and I'm sticking to my guns.

I had originally planned this out as twelve chapters plus an epilogue, but then I decided to add two scenes to this section (based on comments ) and it would have been too long as originally planned (it's already the longest chapter), so I decided to chop chapter eleven in half so now I'm up to thirteen (yipes, that's bad luck) plus an epilogue. Who knows what will happen as I write the next two chapters, but I hope you enjoy what I've put together here. Yes, I'm girding myself for the Mark hatred!

7/21/13 Update: Just updating a little historical error that an anonymous guest pointed out. No kamikazes at Pearl Harbor it would seem. My bad!

* * *

><p>Chapter Eleven<p>

Cristina looked over the latest notes in Arizona's chart and smiled. _Who would have thought she'd be doing so well after all she went through? She almost died on that helo flight in and now the infection's almost gone. Wow!_ She shook her head at the improbability of it all as she put the chart back on the nurse's station and turned to push the wheelchair into Arizona's room. "You ready to move to better digs?" she asked as she entered the ICU room.

Arizona looked up at her with sad, tired eyes for only a moment before she looked back down at her right hand, which was lying in her lap. "Yeah, that's fine." She definitely didn't sound fine.

Cristina left the wheelchair near the front of the room, walked over to Arizona's right side, and looked down at her with concern. "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?" She glanced up at the monitors over Arizona's bed and noticed that all her vitals were normal.

It was only when Arizona used her good hand to wipe at her eyes that Cristina noticed she was actually crying. Arizona took a deep breath, as if pulling herself together before speaking, and looked up at Cristina. "While I was unconscious, my father gave me this." She picked up a small military medal from where it was sitting in her lap. "It's his father's Navy Cross. Callie told me he said I was brave and deserved to have it." Her hand fell back to her lap and her eyes followed. "She told me how he gave her this big speech about how I face my fears and work through them to do what's right. But, now…" Her voice trailed off and she took another deep breath. "If I can't operate again, what do I have to be brave about? My father taught me to serve, but how do I do that without a scalpel in my hand?"

Cristina was never really someone who did well with other people's emotions. She preferred the white and dark aspect of surgery. You either fixed the problem or you didn't. But emotions were too elusive, too diaphanous to really be able to understand let alone truly analyze. At least for her. She had hated her psych rotations with such a passion, and yet she so often found herself in a position where she needed to employ skills of empathy and understanding that she was not sure she even possessed most of the time. _But you are one of the few people here who understands so much of what she is going through. You saw it with Burke after he was shot. And you were there with her through the crash._ She pulled the guest chair over a little more next to the bed and sat down in it. "Do you want to know how you'll do that?"

"Yes, please tell me," Arizona said with a hint of desperation in her voice. She looked over at Cristina, her eyes seeming so incredibly weary. "I mean, I know you're just going to say something about finding some other passion, or that I could still be a doctor, a pediatrician but not a surgeon, but, really, how can I do this? How can I get past losing so much? I won't be able to operate. I won't be able to pick up my daughter." Her voice choked on that last item and fresh tears glistened in her eyes.

Cristina tried to think how she would handle such a loss and it was totally beyond her. She looked at Arizona for a moment and then shrugged. "You're right, that's what I'm supposed to say. But you know what? I won't say that. I'll tell you that it sucks. It sucks a lot. I mean of all the surgeons in this hospital, you really end up saving the most lives when you think about it. You save children, children who will go on to have children of their own, and then grandchildren and so on. How many people will be alive in a hundred years because of you? Thousands? Yeah, it sucks."

Arizona let out a dry puff of laughter. "Talk about sucking. You really are lousy at this."

Cristina wasn't sure how to proceed, so she decided to change the subject slightly. "So what did your grandfather do to get the medal?"

This seemed to do the trick, because it brought a proud smile to Arizona's lips. "It was at Pearl Harbor and he was on the USS Arizona."

"Oh, is that how you got your name?" Cristina laughed when she nodded. "I always figured you were born in Arizona or conceived there or something."

"Okay, first off, please no mention of my parents and any sexual act that led to my existence. No child wants to put those two things together. And second, yes, that's how I got my name." Her eyes fell on the medal in her hand. "When the attack started, he ran up on deck and was soon blown overboard into the water during an explosion. He helped nineteen men get into life boats, even though they all said he was clearly injured. But he kept swimming over to the next guy and helping to drag him onto the few small boats that were out trying to scoop up survivors. He was swimming over to that last guy, the nineteenth, when a Japanese plane crashed into one of the nearby ships. My grandfather was hit with burning shrapnel from the explosion. That must have been just enough to cause him to weaken, because he got to that last guy, he was an eighteen year old kid barely old enough to enlist, and he helped get him up onto some floating wreckage so he'd be out of the water. The kid tried to get my grandfather to climb on with him, but he shook his head no and started to swim off to another hurt sailor. That's when he succumbed to his injuries and drowned."

"Wow, that's an amazing story. Truly brave," Cristina said after Arizona finished the tale. "I may not be the most observant Jew around, but one of the sayings from the Torah that I've always loved is something about when you save a life you save the world. Both you and your grandfather have saved a number of worlds."

"But will I save any more?" Arizona was quiet for a few moments, her only movements being the tips of her fingers playing with the medal in her hand. Finally, she looked up at Cristina. "Do you believe in karma?"

"Like reincarnation?"

"That's not what I mean." Arizona looked thoughtful for a moment before her eyes refocused on Cristina. "You know, just what goes around comes around. Like, I've been such a good person my whole life, always trying hard to do what's right, helping others. And I finally thought that I'd gotten my reward." Just the smallest hint of a smile touched her lips. "I mean I've found this amazing woman and I get to spend the rest of my life with her. I actually get to wake up every morning to her in my life and that's just miraculous. And we have Sofia, who it turns out is pretty much the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. And we have great jobs, great friends, our families. Except for losing my brother, I'd have to say my life's been pretty perfect in the great grand scheme of things." She then looked over to her left arm. "And now the bubble's been popped and it turns out karma was just waiting to kick me in the ass."

Cristina fixed her with a frustrated glare. "Okay, normally your perkiness is annoying, but really, depressed Arizona is way worse." She scooted her chair closer. "I want you to listen to me. And I want you to listen good." She waited until Arizona turned to look back in her eyes. "Your grandfather was an amazing man, and maybe the universe owed him better than what he got, but you and I both know that bad things happen to the best of people. Bad shit does not discriminate. Do you think your grandfather would have sat around and had this pity party?" When Arizona just glared at her Cristina nodded. "Yeah, okay, that was below the belt. But you need to realize that nothing is decided here. You know Derek and Mark and everyone here will do everything in their power to get your arm back for you. But if even the genius surgeons here can't fix it enough for you to operate, then you'll continue to go out and fight to save lives. Clearly you come from a long line of life savers. That's just who you are. You've got to live up to that ridiculous name of yours after all."

"I suppose." She didn't sound so convinced.

"You just said Sofia is about the best thing that's happened to you. And you have Callie. You're smart, you're passionate about helping all those tiny humans. You'll find a way through this. You have so much good in your life. It's not all about surgery. And, yes, that's coming from me. If I can admit there's more to life than surgery, then it has to be true."

Arizona looked at Cristina for a few moments, her expression unchanged, but then she broke out in laughter. "What the hell happened to you, Yang? You're not usually so, well, insightful."

Cristina couldn't help but smile slightly. "I dodged death twice this week. I'm feeling a little, um, adventuresome I guess."

Arizona's brow furrowed. "Twice?"

Now it was Cristina's turn to laugh. "Guess Callie didn't pass on my story of the bear."

"There was a bear? Did I sleep through that or something?"

"I went outside to set up something so the search planes could find us and when I turned to go back to the plane there was this bear. And he was standing on his hind legs maybe twenty or thirty feet away but blocking my way to the plane." She stood up and extended her arms up over her head in an imitation of the encounter. "And he was all like grrrrrrrrrr."

Arizona laughed harder at her actions. "Grrrrr, really?"

Cristina lowered her arms. "Yeah, grrrrrr. Just like that." She couldn't help but laugh quietly. "Hey, this is serious. I could have been eaten."

"Eaten? You realize most of the bears out there are black bears, right? They usually don't eat humans." Arizona laughed again and shook her head. "And here I thought _I_ hated the outdoors."

Cristina sat back down in her chair. "I grew up in Beverly Hills. Of course I hate the outdoors. They teach a class in elementary school about hating the outdoors." Cristina took a quick breath and rolled her eyes. "Look, long story short, I tried to talk the bear down and then I played dead, but it started stalking me. I'd be dead if that guy Zach didn't pull up on his white knight ATV and manage to scare it off."

"Zach. That's his name. I was trying to remember." Arizona looked back down at the medal in her hand. "I should give this to him. He really was our hero, huh?"

Cristina reached over and touched Arizona's arm and waited for her to look up. "You were the one that jumped in that co-pilot's seat and got us down in one piece. That was heroic." She then sat back up in the chair and smiled. "Besides, Owen is planning something for Zach and the doctor that helped us, Henderson. Our friends are collecting money to help outfit Doctor Henderson's little clinic so it's not something out of the Middle Ages and we'll do something special for Zach, too. You keep that medal. It's your legacy."

Arizona nodded and closed her eyes, suddenly seeming very tired. "Thanks for the pep talk, Yang. You're better at it than you think."

"No problem. But I'm sorry if I wore you out. Do you want to wait to go up to your room? There's no rush." Cristina's eyes tracked up to the monitors over Arizona's bed and she was relieved that there had been no noticeable change, but if she was too tired, it would be better from a medical standpoint to let her rest a little while.

Arizona took a deep breath and her blue eyes popped back open. "No, I want to be in my new room before Callie gets back from lunch with her mother."

"Lunch with her mother? The woman who less than a year ago was condemning her to fire and brimstone? That sounds ominous." Cristina moved around to the opposite side of Arizona's bed and started to remove the electrodes attached to her torso.

"Hopefully she's had a change of heart when it comes to our marriage. Or at the very least, I hope she's willing to be Sofia's grandmother. I know it's hard on Callie, but if her mother can at least be there for Sofia, that's an improvement and that's the most important thing. I can play the martyr and accept being _persona non grata_ to her as long as Sofia gets a grandmother." She didn't seem to truly believe what she was saying, but Cristina wasn't going to push it.

"Grandmothers are important," she said as an aside.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

The sudden change in topic made Cristina pause. She stopped disconnecting the heart monitor and looked at Arizona with a raised eyebrow. "We practically lived through an episode of _Lost_ together. Of course you can ask me something. I may, however, reserve the right to take the fifth."

"That's fair," Arizona said with a nod. "But this isn't personal, at least not about you. On the plane or maybe after I started losing it with the delirium, did I mention a fight Callie and I had? There's so much that I can't remember."

"About you getting pregnant? Yeah, you mentioned it before the crash. That's probably the time period your amnesia is affecting."

"Did I…" She trailed off for a moment and shifted her weight, seeming a little uncomfortable. "Did I say I came to any conclusions about that?"

Cristina thought back to their conversation and tried to remember exactly what Arizona had said. That Arizona had opened up to her about something so private had been surprising, but that surprise was also short-lived as their predicament had come fast on the tails of the revelation. "If I remember correctly, you said you didn't want to become pregnant yourself. But Callie had made you want things in the past that you hadn't previously wanted, and they always turned out well. So, I think you thought maybe that was how this would work out."

"That makes sense," she said absently.

Arizona seemed to drift off into thought then and Cristina decided to just let her be as she finished up the preparations to move her out of the ICU. Finally, after lowering the bed, she brought the reclining wheelchair over and set the back to a position that would not overly stress Arizona's incision during the brief ride upstairs to her new room. "Ready to go?"

Arizona snapped out of her thoughts and blinked twice at Cristina before her eyes went to the wheelchair. "Um, yeah."

It took them a few minutes and the assistance of a nurse to get her transferred safely to the chair. Cristina went over and grabbed the duffel bag that Arizona indicated needed to go with her and then came back to take up position behind her. "I should warn you, I'm not the best driver in the world."

Arizona chuckled low at that. "Well you have to be a better driver than I am a pilot and we lived through that, so I think we'll be fine. Let's go."

Cristina smiled. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Arizona looked at the medal in her hand. She'd been playing with it ever since Yang had moved her into her own private room. Now that she was finally alone in what was likely to be her new home for days and probably weeks to come, she had time to really look at it. Just that morning Callie had recounted to her what had happened when her father left the medal. She'd had a hard time imagining her father opening up like that to Callie and an even harder time accepting that her father thought of her as brave or some kind of hero. <em>Doesn't matter really. If my arm doesn't heal, my lifesaving days are over. <em> She sighed as she thought about her earlier conversation with Cristina and shook her head. _I know I should just find a way, but I'm not sure I can. Not much call for bravery in a pediatrician's office. _

She looked down at her arm and felt all the frustration and anger at her situation wash over her. "Dammit, feel something," she ground out between clenched teeth as she reached over and hit her left arm with her right hand. But she didn't feel it. She pinched at the skin and still nothing. It was like it was someone else's arm lying there. In frustration she threw the medal across the room and screamed out, "Not fair!"

"Hey, hey," Mark's chiding voice came from the doorway to her room. "Take a deep breath, Robbins."

Arizona rolled her eyes. _Perfect. Just who I did not want to see right now. Mr. Couldn't-Be-Serious-If-His-Life-Depended-On-It._ "Unless you've got some miracle cure, just go away."

Mark walked in and picked up the medal from the floor. He pulled the rolling table over to her left side, placing both the medal and a kit of instruments on it. "I'm feeling like a broken record. You need to give it time."

"You know what, Mark? Screw time. Screw waiting for this inflammation to go down. Tell me whether my arm will heal or not. Tell me whether I'll ever operate again." She fixed him with a piercing gaze and watched as he averted his eyes. "Exactly. My arm isn't going to heal, is it? Quit beating around the bush and just tell me the fucking truth."

She watched as his eyes grew wide at her profanity and she knew that she'd gotten through to him how serious she was that he not sugarcoat this anymore. He looked at her for a moment and then nodded as he rolled the table closer to her bed. "You'll have to skewer Derek for the final word, but I can show you what you're facing at least."

It wasn't what she wanted to hear. She wanted answers and she wanted them yesterday. How many times had she told parents they'd have to wait to know for sure how their kids were going to do? _There's that karma again, come to bite me in the ass. _She sighed heavily and reached over to grab the medal off the table so she would have something to throw again if she needed it or maybe poke Mark with the pointy pin on its back if he continued to annoy her. "Okay, fine, if that's the best you can offer, then show me."

Mark nodded as he pulled a stool up to sit next to her bed. He pulled on a pair of gloves and then removed the bandaging over the wound in her arm. Arizona's eyes went wide when she saw what was beneath. A large chunk of flesh and muscle was simply missing from her upper arm, leaving a hole bigger than a golf ball in diameter. "The infection was pretty bad when they brought you in. I cleaned as much of it out as possible during the initial surgery and then I went back in a few times while you were still unconscious to keep up with it, but there was a lot of damage and necrotized flesh that I had to remove. We did our best to avoid the nerves, but we're going to probably need to do some grafting after we see where you are when the inflammation is down. And then there's the muscle damage. Torres wants to get a specialist in here to look at that. Once the internal damage is repaired we'll look into a skin graft to cover the hole." He looked up at her. "The infection is pretty much clear, but you can see how swollen everything still is."

Arizona kept staring at the injury, her mind seeming to grind to a halt as she struggled to comprehend what she was seeing. She had seen far worse, of course, but to have such a gaping wound in her own body just shocked her. She finally looked up at Mark and let out a big breath she didn't realize she had been holding. "Holy shit."

"Yeah, I'd say that qualifies as holy shit. Obviously, pissing off a pine tree by crashing into it and having it impale you wasn't the best course of action. Not to mention the fact it took so long to get real medical care."

His slightly joking tone was just irritating. "Yeah, I'm sorry I dawdled out in the wilderness with a damned pine tree jabbed through my arm." She rolled her eyes and looked up at the ceiling, trying to force her temper to calm down. "Can you please just do what you need to do and bandage me back up? And be quick about it."

"How about you let me decide how long this is going to take? You can't rush perfection."

It was typical Mark. She knew he often played up the egotism as a joke, but it often seemed that just as often he really was that full of himself. Sure he was gifted, but his gift wasn't fixing her arm any faster right now. And what good were all his overblown opinions of himself if he couldn't fix the problem and fix it now? "Perfection? You call this perfection? What the hell is wrong with you? I swear, Mark, you better be glad my left hand isn't working, or I'd reach out with both hands and grab those supposedly oversized balls of yours and toss them across the room like I did the medal." All the tension in her body ended up in a tight fist that caused her nails to dig into the palm of her hand.

"You wou—" His voice trailed off quickly. "Um, Robbins?"

"What?" she called out, her anger still flaring at him. "What could it possibly be, oh god of plastics?"

"Um, your fingers just moved."

Her eyes popped open and she looked at him in complete disbelief. "What?"

He looked down at her left hand and pointed. "They moved. They just moved."

Her eyes shot down to her hand, which was lying in the same position it had been. "Very funny, Mark." She concentrated, trying to get the fingers to move, but nothing happened. "Nope, no movement. You are either a total ass to distract me with lies or you need glasses."

"No, I swear it." He sat back and crossed his hand over his heart. "Hope to die and all that stupid kiddie stuff your patients say all the time."

She looked from her hand to Mark and back. She concentrated, really concentrated, trying to get at least one finger to flinch, but still nothing. "Nada, Mark. I don't know what you saw, but it's not moving now."

He looked at her like the cat that ate the canary. "You're not boiling mad right now. I bet the adrenaline did it."

She started to argue with him, but it made some sort of sense. She had clenched her good hand into a fist and if her other hand had not been injured, it too would have balled up. Adrenaline certainly could be the cause of such a reaction. She looked up at Mark, a slight smile on her lips. "Adrenaline. Okay, then get me mad again. Let's see if that works."

"What? No!"

"Come on, Mark. If there's anyone in this hospital who can get me boiling mad, it's you." She needed to see if he was right, if a rush of adrenaline would be the catalyst to get her fingers to move. It would mean hope, it would mean a chance at the future, it would mean her sanity. That was a lot to place at the feet of Mark Sloan and his ability to rile her up. But as she had said, if there was anyone who knew the buttons to push, it was Mark. Even Callie couldn't quite get her so angry. No, Mark was just what the doctor ordered. "Do it, Mark. Piss me off."

"No," he said again, a look of horror coming across his face. "You and I have become friends and I'm not going to risk that. You know what I'd have to say to get you pissed. And I'm not risking that. Besides, it'd just get you mad at Callie, too." He stood up and crossed his arms across his chest. "No, no, no."

"Goddammit, Mark, would you just do what I ask you for once?" She watched him stare at her, constantly shaking his head and it was really starting to irritate her. "Come on, I know you want to. I'm giving you permission. Go on, rub it in. Remind me of your history with her. Just say it."

"No."

"Argh," she groaned as she clenched at the blanket in frustration. "You are infuriating, you know that? I mean I give you the chance to do something you would have done with glee just a year ago. What is wrong with you?"

He lifted an eyebrow and one corner of his lip turned up in just the hint of a smile. "Nope, can't make me." He was playing now, making fun of her inability to get him to do what she wanted.

In that moment she wanted nothing more than to rub that pretentious smirk off his face. She watched his grin grow and her anger flared up suddenly into a rage of frustration and desperation. "Fuck you, Mark. Just fuck you!" Her whole body tensed up as she fought the urge to jump off the bed and do him bodily harm.

"Ha!" He pointed at her left arm, a huge grin on his face as he literally jumped up and down. "A fist! You're making a fist!"

"What?" For a moment her frustration clouded her understanding of what he was talking about until it sunk in and her eyes shot down to her left hand. Her thumb and first two fingers were curled in to what could be considered a loose fist if the other two fingers had joined them. But even so, they were certainly not extended as they had been just a moment before. "They moved!" She looked up at Mark, who was literally beaming at her. "They moved!"

"They moved!" He started to move toward her, like he was going to hug her, and then he stopped and gave her a quizzical look before just nodding and looking down at her hand. "They really moved."

As the instant euphoria over the movement dissipated, Arizona looked down at her hand and tried to move her fingers consciously. First her thumb twitched and then her pointer and middle finger moved slightly, starting to straighten out again as she attempted to flex them all out straight. It took a few moments, as if her hand were trying to remember how to respond to her brain, and then suddenly all three fingers moved in a jerk back to their earlier extended position. "I did it. I just moved them." She continued to move the three fingers slightly, watching the herky-jerky movement as she bent and then flexed them. She finally looked up at Mark, who was watching her with the same expression he had when Sofia did something for the first time, and smiled. "It's not all five of them, but it's something."

"It is. It's something." His smile grew even broader. "Hot damn, you can move your fingers, Robbins. That's huge."

"I know, right?" She still could barely believe it. And while she still saw no intentional movement from her ring or pinkie fingers, it filled her with so much hope that she would regain the use of her hand. The light at the end of her tunnel was so much closer now. She looked up at Mark again. "Call Callie. No, wait, I want it to be a surprise. Okay, can you call her and ask her how long she'll be? Her lunch with her mom should be over soon, but I just want to know when she'll be here." She looked back down at her hand and smiled. "She'll be so excited."

He pulled out his phone and quickly dialed it, waiting for a moment before saying into it, "Hey, you going to be back here anytime soon? They got your wife moved into her new room and she's getting on everyone's nerves because she's bored." He winked at Arizona.

He listened for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I'll tell her. See you in a bit." His smile broadened as he turned off his phone and returned it to the pocket of his scrubs. "She and her parents will be here in about fifteen minutes."

"Parents plural?" _I guess lunch went reasonably well then._

"Yes, plural. So, why don't you rest for the next few minutes and give your hand a break. You don't want it to be all tuckered out before she gets here." He pulled the stool back over to the bedside and sat down. "You rest and I'll finish changing your dressing. Your father-in-law does not like the sight of blood and gore and an inch-wide hole in your arm is both those things. I want to be done before he gets back here. To be honest, he kind of scares me."

Arizona could only laugh at Mark and at how good she finally felt. She was going to get better. She just knew it. And she couldn't wait to tell Callie.

* * *

><p>Callie poked her head into the room and smiled brightly when Arizona's eyes looked up to meet hers. "You up for a few visitors?"<p>

Arizona broke out in a smile that really warmed Callie's heart. "I am, but can I see you alone for a minute first?"

Callie's brow furrowed at the possibility that there was something wrong that would require them to talk privately, although there was nothing in Arizona's demeanor to cause alarm. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, no, everything's fine. I just want to talk to you alone, that's all. Just a minute or two, I promise."

The rush of worry that had caused her pulse to speed up now dissipated and Callie nodded before ducking back out of the door. She turned to her parents. "Can you guys give us one minute? Just wait here and I'll come and get you. Arizona wants to talk to me about something." She saw the instant worry on both of their faces and she shook her head. "I don't think anything's wrong."

"Sure, we can wait," her father answered for both of them.

"Thanks." She gave them one last smile before slipping into Arizona's room and shutting the door behind her. "Okay, what gives?"

Arizona definitely was trying to contain a large smile. "Come here," she said with a curl of her finger toward her.

"Okay," Callie said, drawing out the word as she started to walk over to Arizona's right side.

"No, other side," Arizona said quickly.

Callie's eyes widened slightly in anticipation. _Can she move it? That must be it, but I don't want to ask in case I'm wrong._ Callie moved over to the other side of the bed and crossed her arms, letting a slightly playful grin come to her lips. "Okay, I'm here."

Arizona pointed down at her left hand. "Voila!"

Callie looked down and watched as Arizona moved her thumb and first two fingers. They twitched, more than moved, but it was movement nonetheless. Her eyes grew even wider and a bright smile sprang to her lips. "Arizona, that's great. They're moving!" She didn't even pause as she quickly leaned down to pull her wife into a tight hug. "This is progress, real amazing progress."

"I know, right?" Arizona laughed loudly as she pulled back out of the hug only to crush her lips against Callie's. The kiss was celebratory and not long, but it still left them both breathing a little heavier when they parted. "I just feel so much better now. Like there's hope."

"There's nothing but hope," Callie said quietly as her hand reached up to cup Arizona's cheek. "It's still going to be a long, hard road, but we're going to walk that together, right?"

"Right. Now take my hand," Arizona said quietly. When Callie reached for her right hand, she shook her head. "No my other hand."

Callie did as she was asked and gave Arizona a look of uncertainty. "Okay."

Arizona smiled and closed her eyes as if in a sense of relief. "I can feel that," she whispered quietly before her eyes fluttered open and she looked straight at Callie. There were tears glistening in her eyes. "I never told you this, but when you were hurt, right before you started crashing that last time, I sat by your bed and I begged you to live. Because in that moment, right then as I watched you lying there with the intubation tube sticking out of your mouth and the sounds of the respirator and the heart monitor going, I knew. I just knew that I could never live without you."

Callie felt tears welling up in her own eyes. "Arizona—"

"No, let me finish," she said with a slightly sad smile. "I'm not saying I literally wouldn't have been able to live. My heart would have continued beating, but it would have been in a million pieces. What I'm saying is that with you, I'm alive, truly alive. And I know you feel it, too."

Callie reached up with her free hand to wipe away the tears on her cheeks as she smiled. "Of course I do."

Arizona's smile was sweet, even as she blinked against her own tears. "I was just lying here thinking before you came in that it all really doesn't matter. If all I ever have is three fingers that can kind of move and have some sensation, then I'm okay with that. I'm really okay with that. Because I made it home to you, even when there were times out there when I thought I'd die and the last person I'd ever speak to would be Cristina."

Callie couldn't help but laugh at that. "I love Yang, but that's not who I'd want my last day spent with either."

"No," Arizona said around a quiet laugh of her own. "But I fought and I got lucky. We got lucky. And I realized while I was lying here waiting for you to come back that if I never hold another scalpel or retractor that's okay. Because you make me feel more alive than any surgery ever could. And that's the most important thing."

Callie felt so many emotions swirling in her, but she tempered them with a deep breath. And then she decided on the course of levity. "While I love you for that, don't think this means you can get out of all that physical therapy hell I went through."

Arizona played along and broke out in a huge laugh. "Damn, you found me out."

They both laughed for a moment and then Callie looked toward the door. "My parents are probably wondering what's taking so long."

"Hey," Arizona said as Callie started to walk away. "How did it go with your mom? I mean, she's here, so I'm guessing not so bad, right?"

Callie turned back toward Arizona and shrugged. "I'd give her a B+. Long story short, she's decided she's not God and therefore doesn't get to condemn me to Hell. And, really, she just wants me to be happy, so she'll support our relationship. But of course there's a 'but'."

"There always is."

Callie rolled her eyes at the truth of that. "She's got this whole warped Catholic sense of marriage going. To her it's a sacrament and if you're Catholic and don't have that sacrament, she figures you aren't really married. So, basically, she's got issues with saying we're married or that you're my wife. But she did mention she never even thought George and I were married, so really she's being equal opportunity in her judgments."

"Are you okay with that?"

Callie let out a deep breath. "She's made a lot of progress and she's promised to keep working on it, so I can be understanding of it. I don't have to approve of it or like it, but I'm asking her to be understanding of me, of us, when she doesn't necessarily approve or like it, so it's only fair."

Arizona's smile was proud now. "That's very wise of you. What about Sofia?"

"Same thing. She can't condemn me for Sofia and it's not Sofia's fault how she came to be. And I think my mom just got worn down by my father talking about his adorable granddaughter, too." She took another step toward the door but stopped before reaching out to the door handle. "So, after she comes in here and apologizes to you for being an ass at our wedding, we're going down to spring the little munchkin from daycare for a little bonding time."

"Munchkin. I miss her." Arizona pouted almost comically. She then nodded, her face getting a little more serious. "Okay, I can live with your mother's partial acceptance of us if you can. And we'll just keep working on her. By the time it's our fifth anniversary, I bet she'll at least be sending us a card."

"Because you and I are awesome and we can do anything together."

Arizona winked at her. "Anything."

Callie chuckled quietly as she opened the door and poked her head outside. Her parents were standing over by the nurse's station talking with Mark. She cleared her throat so they would all realize she was there and said, "Sorry that took so long."

"No, it's no problem, Mija," her father said.

Both her parents said a quick goodbye to Mark, who gave her a big goofy grin as soon as their backs were to him as they turned to walk over to the door. Her mother said quietly to her, "He's actually quite nice."

"Yes, he is." Fearing that her mother was going to try to suggest that she suddenly jump ship and go to Mark, she quickly added. "He's just a friend and Sofia's father. He'll never be any more."

"I wasn't suggesting that, Calliope," her mother answered with a slightly hurt look on her face.

"Sorry, Mom, old habits die hard, I guess." She held the door open widely and motioned for her parents to enter Arizona's room. "She's excited to see you both."

And Callie was right. As she led her parents into Arizona's room, her wife smiled brightly at the two of them, showing off her notorious 'super magic smile'. "Thank you both for coming when Callie called. I know it was a big comfort to her."

"We'll always be there for her," her father said as he moved over next to Arizona's bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you." Arizona's smile widened. "I'm stronger and I just was able to move a few fingers on my left hand." She demonstrated by moving the three fingers.

"That was the biggest worry," Callie interjected.

"That's wonderful," Carlos said. "I'm just so happy for both of you that this is having a happy ending. You deserve that." He turned to his wife. "Don't they?"

"Yes. Yes of course they do," Lucia said, but her eyes were lowered. The room fell silent for a few long moments before she looked up at Arizona. "I am very happy that you are okay."

"Thank you, Mrs. Torres," Arizona answered, her voice steady but without any noticeable emotion.

Lucia cleared her throat, an obvious sign she was a little uncomfortable or nervous, but she held Arizona's gaze. "Arizona…" She took a deep breath. "Please, call me Lucia. You're family now."

Arizona's smile grew and Callie could see how genuine it was. "Thank you, Lucia. I appreciate that."

Lucia walked over to stand next to Arizona's bed. "I'm not sure if Callie just told you what we talked about at lunch."

"I gave her a quick summary," Callie said so that Arizona would not have to decide whether to reveal that or not.

"Good," Lucia said as she shifted her weight a little nervously. "But I wanted to tell you that I am truly sorry for leaving like I did the last time I was here. I was wrong about so many things."

Callie could see the emotions play in Arizona's eyes. "It's okay. I understand how hard it was for you. Your religion and beliefs are a big part of who you are. We don't expect you to ignore that. As long as you accept us, that's the important thing."

Lucia seemed to deflate in relief at Arizona's words. "Thank you. I know I still have a long way to go and I'm sorry if I have trouble with considering you married. It's a sacrament to me. That's how I was raised. But I just want my little girl to be happy and she obviously is." She smiled at Callie and there was nothing but love in her eyes. She turned back to Arizona. "You've made her very happy, Arizona. Anyone can see that. You two have formed a wonderful family and I hope you'll let us share in that."

Callie felt herself choke up. It was difficult to believe this was the same woman who had been so cold and distant just a year ago. And now here she was trying hard to make things right, or at least as right as she could at this point. But it was Arizona's reaction that brought the tears to Callie's eyes.

Arizona reached out to Lucia and motioned for her to come closer. She took the older woman's hand in her own and smiled gently. "I know it's not easy to compromise your beliefs. And it's just evidence of how much you love your daughter. She's lucky to have parents who love her unconditionally. And I know that it was that love that had you concerned last year and I see that love today. Of course you're part of our family and I'm so happy to be part of yours." She pulled Lucia in to a hug, smiling over her shoulder to both Carlos and Callie as she wrapped her good arm around her mother-in-law.

Everyone was silent as the emotion of the moment clearly rang through each of them. Even after Arizona let Lucia escape her embrace, the four of them just looked at each other, tears welling in eyes and smiles on their faces. Callie finally had to laugh in order to break the emotion. "So, one big happy family, huh?"

"Well, we are missing a rather important part of our family," Arizona offered, with just a hint of sadness in her voice.

Callie came over and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on Arizona's forehead. "I know. As soon as Bailey says I can put you in a wheelchair and we can hotrod around the hospital, we're heading down to daycare, but until then…" She knew it was hard on Arizona not seeing their daughter and she was hopeful that she would get the okay to reunite mother and daughter as soon as possible.

"I'm just going to have to focus on feeling well enough so that Bailey springs me from this bed, then, I guess," Arizona said with what Callie knew was slightly forced optimism. "But speaking of Sofia, aren't you going to go down to see her?"

"Yeah, we were going to go down there next," Callie answered her.

Arizona looked over at Carlos. "Would you mind staying behind for a few minutes? I wanted to talk to you about something."

Callie's eyebrow raised in questioning as she looked between her father and Arizona. _What is that about?_ She thought about asking, but figured she'd hear more later about whatever Arizona wanted to talk to her father about. Or maybe she wouldn't, if Arizona was up to something.

"Sure," Carlos answered as she looked over at Callie. "You and your mother head downstairs. I know where it is."

Callie nodded to her father and then leaned down to Arizona. "Everything okay?" she whispered.

"It's great. I'll tell you later, okay?" Arizona answered just as quietly.

"Okay," Callie said as she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Arizona's lips. "I'll see you a little later. Love you."

"I love you, too," Arizona said, her eyes twinkling gently before she gave Callie one last quick kiss. "Give that last kiss to our little bug, okay?"

Callie stood up, a bright smile coming to her lips. "Will do." She then turned to her father. "Don't let her get in any trouble, okay?"

Her father chuckled quickly. "Never."

"Oh, fine, spoil all my fun," Arizona injected before laughing quietly.

Callie just shook her head in amusement as she went over and took her mother by the elbow. "Let's get out of here before things get crazy. Bye, Arizona," she called over her shoulder as she opened the door for her mother.

"Bye, Calliope," her wife called out in answer as they left the room.

Once outside she took a moment to smile at her mother. "I'm really proud of you, Mom." She reached out and pulled her mother into a tight hug. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Mija. I never stopped love you, but I'm glad we can get back to showing that to each other."

"Me, too. Now how about we go see your granddaughter?" Callie smiled as she pulled out of the embrace.

"Please," her mother said with a bright smile. "But wait a second." Her eyes tracked back to the door of Arizona's room. "I have an idea."

"Oh?" Callie couldn't help but smile at the bit of mischief in her mother's eyes.

"Yeah. I'll tell you on the way downstairs," her mother said as she threaded her arm through Callie's and started pulling her down the hall toward the elevators. "Come on, I don't want to wait another second to see my granddaughter. I've missed enough time already."

Callie found her feet following even as she looked at her mother with a hint of interest mixed with trepidation at this mystery idea of her mother's. But she played along as she fell into an easy step with her mother. "Okay, let's. And do tell about this idea…"

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long (and that I haven't updated my other story either). I work full time and am in grad school, so that's part of it. But mostly I've just been in a miserable mood plus I wrote myself into a corner I wasn't so happy about with this story. It wasn't supposed to be about Arizona not wanting to get pregnant. I threw that fight in there to ramp up the "Arizona is missing" storyline, but it's what the story has become and I'm not happy with how I'm handling that. So, add massive writer's block to my list of distractions.

Anyway, I finally just decided to bite the bullet and finish this chapter. There's only one more and an epilogue planned (and at least the long hiatus helped me formulate an even better epilogue that I think really ties a lot of it together). School is done after this upcoming week's final so hopefully in the next few weeks I will not only be able to post to the other story (that's next), but I'll get this one finished too. With any luck my motivation will return with a little less stress in my life.

And before you all say something, I'll totally cop to having Arizona be all over the place with her fears and stuff (and articulating them) because I'm all over the place with what her fears should be and how to put that on "paper". But I think chapter 13 and the epilogue will finally clear it up...at least I hope so...

And thanks of course for the reviews and feedback. I wouldn't do this without them. It's how I get paid after all. Please know that even when I don't respond to you, I truly appreciate each and every comment.

* * *

><p><em>Previously on Thin Line…Arizona got a little movement back in her hand thanks to wanting the throttle Mark, Lucia made major steps in accepting Callie and Arizona's relationship, Arizona asked Carlos to stay while Lucia and Callie went down to see Sofia in the nursery...<em>

Chapter Twelve

Carlos gave Arizona a quizzical look after the door shut behind Callie and Lucia. "Okay, so what did you want to talk about?" His tone wasn't judgmental or harsh, but rather a little amused, like he could barely believe the two of them were alone in her room.

To be honest, Arizona could hardly believe she had asked him to stay, and now that the impetuousness of her request had passed, she felt a little foolish. It wasn't like her head didn't know the answer to her question; it was just that her heart was being stubborn. Well, really, it wasn't even her heart. She just was so confused about it all. And it was the confusion that was so damned frustrating. She motioned with her hand toward the chair on her right side, "Please, take a seat."

"Ah, this could take a while," he said with a slight chuckle. He pulled the chair a little closer to her bed and sat down with a smooth motion. He then tilted his head toward her in invitation but didn't say a word. There was something quite calming to his lack of pressure. She loved that he was patient with her, just like a good father should be with a child.

"I, uh, you know this might sound stupid. And if you don't want to answer, if it's too personal, that's okay." She felt that impending jumble of words that so often came flooding from her mouth when she was anxious and she took a moment to take a deep breath. "Okay, let me just get to the point without blabbering on too much. Callie and I want to have more children. And because of the damage she sustained during the C-section, there's a chance there's too much scar tissue for her to have another child or even maybe for it to be safe for her to try. We're not sure, yet, but one of her best friends is an amazing neo-natal surgeon. She's actually coming in to town today to take over the case I was going to Spokane for while I'm laid up. Anyway, Addison—that's the friend—needs to run some more tests to know for sure, but even then a lot of the potential damage can't be seen without exploratory surgery and we don't want that." She took another deep breath and smiled. "Okay, so this is more rambly than I planned."

"It's okay," Carlos said with a gentle smile.

She laughed quietly. "Yeah I suppose you're used to rambly. Callie can be a bit rambly sometimes."

Carlos let out a quiet bark of laughter. "That's a bit of an understatement."

"Yeah, it is," Arizona said with that smile she always got when she thought of her wife. She let it linger for a moment before taking a breath and returning her focus to her father-in-law. "Anyway, the morning of my crash, Callie and I fought about whether I would be the one to get pregnant next. She wants me to, and I was resisting." She stopped then and looked at him, unsure of how to continue.

He tilted his head thoughtfully and looked at her for a moment before he ventured, "Why wouldn't you?"

Arizona let out a long sigh. "To be honest, when the fight happened, I wasn't really sure. I never actually wanted to have kids until Callie came into my life. And even then it almost broke us up because I wasn't able to see past my selfishness. And now…" She drifted off as a smile touched her lips at just the mere thought of her family life. "I can't imagine life without Sofia. She's just so amazing and I love her more than anything. But for me to actually be pregnant, to give birth?" She looked down, unable to hold his gaze. "I don't like to admit I get scared about things, but it does. It scares me."

There was a short pause and she could tell he was thinking something over. Then he leaned forward a tad and asked, "Do you know why you are scared?"

It was an interesting question. It certainly wasn't enough to say that she was scared; but to look behind the fear to the cause, that was the real crux of the matter. And somehow he understood that. She could see it written in the concern in his eyes. It made her want to understand, so that she could answer him, but more importantly so that she could answer herself.

Arizona had to admit that self-introspection had not always been her strong suit. Maybe that was why she had never really considered having children before Callie. And maybe that was why she reacted without any conscious reason when Callie suggested she get pregnant. It was all a gut reaction without much forethought. And for someone who was usually well-informed and relatively logical in her life, it kind of surprised her to realize that in some ways she was making huge life decisions without really considering everything. "At first I didn't. Hell, at first I wouldn't have even admitted my reaction was based on any sort of fear. I remember when Callie and I were fighting about having children and I swore to her that I wasn't broken, that I wasn't afraid of having children because of all the pain I've seen parents go through. But hindsight tells me I was probably ignoring my fears then or at least hiding them really well, even from myself."

"So it's fear of loss? Of the pain of that loss?" His brow furrowed for a moment and then he nodded. "That's a scary prospect."

"Yeah, I guess so," she said, feeling just a little less sure of herself.

He leaned back in his chair and tilted his head toward the side. "And how can I help you with that?"

She realized she needed to add a little context, to explain why she was having these fears. And it was only earlier in the day, when she had really had a few moments to herself to think about it, that she had come to a possible seed for her worries. "My mother had three miscarriages. I don't remember the first one, because I was only four, but the last two I was older. And I remember how truly devastated she was. There were weeks and weeks when she couldn't even get out of bed and I know for years afterward there was always a shadow in her eyes." She paused for a moment and let out a quiet mirthless laugh. "You've met my mother. She's generally happy and outgoing. But a lot of that is a front, I think, to cover up the pain. Anyway, when my brother died, she again was totally devastated. We all were at first. Obviously."

Carlos nodded to her. "Of course. That had to be hard on all of you."

"It was," Arizona agreed as she spent a moment remembering how her whole family had reacted to losing Timothy. "It even took me a few months and a few hundred dozen donuts before I felt like getting back out into the world." She let out a sigh and met Carlos' gaze. "Timothy was killed in February of my second year in residency. I was in Baltimore and my parents lived near Chicago at the time so we didn't see each other that often even when we wanted to, but after Timothy's funeral, it was just easier not to see each other at all. But then Christmas rolled around and I was able to take a few days off to go visit them. It had been ten months and I was learning to live again. My father was coping in his own way by avoiding the pain. But my mother was still mostly bedridden with grief." She blinked to try to keep the tears that were threatening from falling. "I tried to get her up to go do some shopping and she got so angry with me for interrupting her grief. And the one thing I will never forget was when she told me that I would never understand her pain. She said that until I lost a child I had carried and given birth to, my own flesh and blood, I would never understand the pain of that." Her throat closed up as the emotion of that moment came back to her. "She wasn't trying to be mean. It was just her grief talking, but I wonder about the truth of that. I wonder if she's right."

"Okay, so how can I help you decide that?" Carlos seemed quite confused.

She bit at her lip for a moment, again fighting the feeling that this was all rather silly. But even if it were silly, her heart wasn't letting it go. "You're the only person I know who can answer this question for me. Do you think there's a difference between the connection you feel with a biological child and one you parent but aren't biologically related to?" She cringed slightly at the question.

"Ah," Carlos said as he nodded slowly and got a thoughtful look on his face. He leaned forward and pinned her with his yes. "No, there's not."

"No?" The answer seemed too simple to her.

"No. I love Aria just as much as I love Calliope. I have a different relationship with each of them, but that has more to do with the fact that Calliope always was drawn more to me than to her mother and Aria is a bit of a loner with both of us." He leaned back and seemed to think for a moment. "But that's not what you're really afraid of, is it?"

"What?" His question set off a slight twinge of worry, even panic, in her. "Of course that's it. I'm afraid my mother was right."

"And you wouldn't be devastated if something happened to Sofia?"

"Of course I would." She sighed heavily and felt frustration building in her. "It's just…" She let out a large puff of air. "I'm sorry. Look this was just stupid. It's just my brain trying to build up excuses for whatever reason."

"Oh, there's a reason," Carlos said with almost a hint of amusement. "Do you think maybe you're afraid that if you have a child you'll somehow love Sofia less? Did you read that in some parenting rulebook or something?"

Arizona's immediate reaction was to disagree, but she hesitated a moment to think about it. The fact that her pulse had picked up and she felt like she needed to be on the defensive about the question spoke volumes to her. "I don't know," she finally offered. "Maybe."

Carlos stood up and sat down on the edge of Arizona's bed. This meant that it was more difficult to avoid his gaze, because he could dip his head and touch her chin so that she was forced to look up at him. "I think every parent worries that having a second child means the first one will lose out. That fear doesn't have anything to do with how those children come into your life. I know I was afraid of that when Lucia got pregnant with Calliope. I mean we only have so much time and attention we can give and that has to be split when you have a second child." He smiled then. "But do you know what I believe? The love we have to share only grows with the number of people we have to share it with. Your love for Sofia will be the same. It might even grow. When we had Calliope, being able to see Aria interact with her sister just made all that love so much more fulfilling. Don't deny yourself that. And certainly don't do that because you're afraid. You're so much braver than that."

Arizona felt both supported and a little chastised by his answer. "I don't feel that brave, but I did jump into the seat of that plane. Most people would have thought that was foolish—"

He cut her off by putting his hand on her forearm. "Actually, I was going to say you were brave when you stood in the lobby of this hospital and told your girlfriend's very opinionated and probably pretty scary father that he was wrong."

She took in a quick breath at his mentioning of their discussion all those years ago. She started to speak but he shook his head and so she waited to hear what else he had to say.

"You didn't have to do that. She had already chosen to live her life as she saw fit. And yet you stood there and taught me how to be a better father, a better man. That was brave." His smile brightened. "One of the reasons I tried so hard to be okay with Calliope being in a relationship with a woman was because that woman was everything I had ever hoped Calliope would find when she settled down. You're a good man in a storm, Arizona. Good men don't let fear hold them back."

Tears came to Arizona's eyes at his words and she felt the ball of emotion in her throat. She swallowed hard, hoping she could get the words out. "Thank you. And you're right. I won't let it hold us back." She wiped at her tears and laughed quietly in self-deprecation. "And I was actually being selfish when I stood up to you. Nothing makes me happier than when Callie is happy. And having her father in her life makes her happy. I just hope my relationship with my kids is half as good as yours is with Callie."

He patted her arm gently. "It'll be more than that. I promise."

* * *

><p>Callie held the door to the nursery open for her mother and then followed her in. There were children all over the room, in small groups generally split up by age. Some were playing and some were listening as one of the teachers read to them quietly in a corner. It only took a moment before she spotted Sofia, over in the corner playing with Zola and two other young toddlers. Callie couldn't help but smile as Sofia clapped and squealed in delight at something that the other kids did.<p>

"Over there," she said to her mother as she led the way over to the corner, nodding to the day care provider standing nearby as she did. Sofia hadn't noticed them, so Callie quickly reached down to scoop her daughter of the floor while calling out her name.

Sofia's eyes went wide and then she let out another squeal, this one louder and more jubilant than the last as Callie swung her around. When Callie finally settled her in her arms, Sofia clapped again, showing off one of her newest skills.

"How's my baby girl today?" Callie asked as she kissed a plump cheek. She then turned to her mother and smiled broadly.

"She looks just like you did at that age," Lucia said, her voice overcome with a hint of awe.

"Sofia," Callie said as she turned the little girl toward her mother, "this is your grandmother."

Lucia hesitated for a moment until Callie held Sofia out, but then she smiled broadly as she reached out to take the baby. "Hello, Sofia. I'm your grandma." She placed a kiss on Sofia's head and then looked over at Callie and smiled broadly. "She's beautiful, Calliope."

"Thanks," Callie said. She watched as her mother started unconsciously rocking back and forth slightly to help sooth Sofia. Her smile only grew as she watched the two of them interact, her mother whispering quietly into her daughter's ear. It only took the baby a few moments before she relaxed and was patting at her grandmother's face and fiddling with the gold cross that hung around her neck.

Lucia looked up and there were tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry that I let my pride get in the way of this. I was wrong, Calliope, so wrong. And I missed out on so much." She turned back and kissed Sofia on the head again. "But I'm going to make up for lost time, Sofia. I promise you, I'm going to always be there for you." She closed her eyes and her voice dropped to almost a whisper. "And this time I mean that promise."

Callie almost questioned her until her mother's eyes turned back to her and she just knew. "You promised me that when I was little, didn't you?"

Lucia nodded as a tear streaked down her left cheek. "I thought I was doing the right thing the last time I was here."

Callie wrapped her arms around her mother, careful not to smother Sofia, and whispered in her ear, "I know you did. I forgive you." She pulled back and smiled. "Now, that's enough of that serious stuff. You play with your granddaughter while I see if Bailey is okay with our plan."

Lucia wiped at the tears on her cheek and smiled. "Thanks."

Callie took a moment to watch her mother sit down on the floor with the other toddlers and begin to play with all the children before moving over to the side of the room and pulling out her cellphone. She quickly dialed Bailey's number and waited for her to answer.

"Torres, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine." Callie bit at her lip and then let out a breath. "I need to ask you a favor."

Callie swore she could hear the eye roll in Bailey's voice. "What?"

"Um, well, now that Arizona is in her own room, do you think we could smuggle Sofia up there? Just for a few minutes?" Bailey didn't answer immediately so she went in for the mommy guilt. "Sofia really misses her mama and I think seeing Sofia would give Arizona a boost, too. You wouldn't want to keep a mother and child apart, would you? Please?"

There was a light sigh before Bailey answered. "You don't play fair, you know that?"

Callie smiled broadly. "Not when it comes to my wife and child. So, we can bring her up there?"

"I have some conditions."

"Okay, shoot," Callie said as she caught her mother's gaze and nodded.

"I want Arizona in a gown, gloves and mask and you will wash Sofia's hands like she's going into surgery before taking her in there. You've got ten minutes and that is it. And if she cries, you need to take her out of there. There are other people on that floor who need their peace and quiet."

"Done, done, and done. But I'm not sure I can promise there won't be loud squeals of joy." She knew Sofia had a penchant for making rather loud happy noises when either of her mommies came into the room, but especially with Arizona.

Bailey's voice held just the smallest hint of her wry humor when she answered. "I can't kick Arizona out of her own room, so warn your wife to keep the squeals to a minimum, okay?"

Callie laughed as the image of Arizona doing just that entered her mind. Bailey knew them both too well. "I'll tell her to keep it down. Thank you. Thank you so much for letting us do this."

"If Hunt finds out, I will disavow any knowledge of this."

"Of course. It's all on me, I promise." While it was certainly against hospital policy to have a child as young as Sofia in a patient's room, it was really just a very minor infraction. And who on the staff hadn't committed a half dozen of those? In the last month alone, no less. "Did you hear Arizona moved her fingers?"

This time she imagined she could hear the smile in Bailey's voice. "Sloan found me just a few minutes ago to tell me. I'm sure that's a big relief. I'll be up later this afternoon to check on her, but I think things are going about as well as they could."

"Thanks, Bailey, you are the best."

"Don't let that get out. It'll ruin my reputation." There was just the hint of a laugh before the phone disconnected.

Callie chuckled quietly to herself as she moved back over to where her mother was working with Sofia to build a small pile of blocks. She knelt down next to them and smiled broadly. "Sofia?" The little girl looked up at her mother's voice. "How would you like to go see your mama?"

* * *

><p>"Alright, Mom, I'll see you and Dad in about an hour then. Bye." Arizona placed her cellphone down on the table next to her bed and picked up the small cup of water to take a sip. She was just raising it to her lips when the door opened a little and Callie's head popped through the opening.<p>

"Hey, you. You up for a surprise?" She was obviously barely keeping control of a broad smile.

One of Arizona's eyebrows went up as she chuckled at the expression on her wife's face. "Should I be worried?"

Callie came all the way into the room, carrying something behind her back. "No, no worries." When she was over by Arizona's bed, she pulled her hands out from behind her back. She was carrying a yellow trauma gown, a surgical mask, and a box of surgical gloves.

"I'm clearly too ill to stand let alone operate, not to mention the very messed up left hand, so you want to clue me in?"

"Well," Callie drew out as she placed the gloves and mask down on the table. She then shook out the gown and laughed. "Sofia has been missing her mama. And I know her mama is missing her."

Arizona's eyes went wide as she realized what Callie had planned. "She's here? I get to see her?"

"Yes. I even got Bailey's approval." Callie turned the gown so that Arizona could put her good arm through the one sleeve. "Since our daughter spends much of her time in the incubator that is daycare, you need to gown up. And she's allowed a ten minute visit but has to go if she starts crying. Oh and if Owen finds out, Bailey knows nothing about this."

Arizona finished putting her arm through the gown and laughed as the anticipation of seeing her daughter really started to course through her. "Like he's never broken a hospital rule before."

"True." Callie pulled out a glove and stretched it out so that Arizona could slide her hand into it. "She's going to be so happy to see you."

"Do you think we could wait to put the mask on until after she's in the room? She might not recognize me with it on and I don't want to scare her."

"I think that's an excellent idea." Callie leaned down and gave Arizona a quick kiss before helping to tie the mask on her face and then pulling the top tie down so that the mask hung from Arizona's neck. "It's not like she's got a cough or anything. I'm just worried she might stick her hands near your mouth, otherwise I'd say screw the mask."

"Yeah, she is a bit of a face grabber," Arizona said with a bright smile. She sat up a little straighter in bed and then looked over at Callie. "Well, come on, go get her."

"So impatient," Callie said with a gentle laugh as she headed for the door. "She's down in the lounge with my parents. We'll be right back."

Arizona drummed her fingers impatiently as she stared a hole through the door, waiting impatiently for it to open so she could see her daughter. It felt like it was taking forever and she had to take a deep breath and tell herself to be patient, that it would only be a few moments, and that she was so lucky to even be alive let alone getting to see her daughter so soon after her accident. She let out a long breath as her stomach flipped and she couldn't suppress a smile as she heard voices outside her door.

Callie's head poked back in. "You ready?"

"Get her in here," Arizona said with probably more impatience than she had wanted, but at this point she just didn't care.

Callie's laughter drifted into the room as the door opened. Callie walked in with Sofia perched in the crook of one arm, her mother close behind to help open the door with Carlos bringing up the rear with the stroller. "Hey, Sofia, look who we found."

But Arizona barely registered the adults as she only had eyes for her daughter. "Hi baby girl!" Her face actually hurt from the broad smile that sprang to her lips and she couldn't help but laugh as Sofia started to squirm in her wife's arms when she saw her mama.

"Whoa there wiggle worm," Callie said as she quickly grabbed ahold of the baby with both arms to keep her from trying to fly across the room. When she had a firmer grip she walked a little closer to Arizona's bed. "You missed your mama, didn't you?"

Sofia let out a loud excited cry and clapped her hands together—mostly missing thanks to baby coordination—and tried yet again to worm her way out of Callie's arms in an obvious attempt to get to Arizona. "It's okay, Sofia, you can come over here. Just let me get this on." She reached down and pulled the mask up over her face. "See, it's like mouth peek-a-boo."

As Callie sat on the edge of the bed she shook her head in amusement. "Mouth peek-a-boo?"

"Cut me a break." Arizona laughed as she sat up straighter, leaning forward just a little to place a mask-covered kiss on Sofia's cheek. She then quickly tickled her tummy, just like she did most mornings when she went in to get her up. "I love you, Sofia. And I've missed you so much."

Sofia's dark eyes seemed a little wary for a moment as the baby regarded her. Then she reached out and patted at Arizona's mask and up around her eyes, squealing happily and starting to bounce on Callie's lap. Arizona reached up and played with her daughter's hands, laughing as Sofia quickly grabbed her finger and went to suck on it before suddenly spitting it out and wrinkling up her face in obvious disgust.

Callie laughed. "Ah, you don't like the taste of nitrile gloves, huh?"

"They smell funny, too," Arizona added as Sofia's concentration was now on the opaque white glove on her mother's hand. She poked at it and wrinkled her nose again before looking back up at Arizona, her little face very serious. "Yeah, it's all a little weird, huh?" She then reached down and tickled her again, distracting her from all the strangeness around her.

Carlos then cleared his throat and took a step toward the bed. "We should be going. You need a little family time and we've taken up enough of your day."

"More like you two need your rest before tomorrow," Callie said with a light laugh. She turned to Arizona and explained. "All four grandparents are going to spend the day with Sofia doing grandparent things. I'm thinking I might need to rent a U-Haul to bring home all the stuff the grandmothers are bound to buy for her."

Lucia shook her head slightly. "First of all, I haven't had much chance to spoil her and secondly, you know your father likes to shop almost as much as I do."

Carlos looked around at all three of them and rolled his eyes, but it was clearly in jest. He then closed the distance between them and placed a kiss on Callie's head. "It's all the estrogen in my life. First I have two daughters, and then I get a daughter-in-law, and now a granddaughter. I swear your sister better get married soon so I can have another man in this family."

"Like that'll ever happen," Callie said almost under her breath.

Her father gave her just the slightest chiding look before he turned his attention to Arizona. He leaned over and placed a kiss on Arizona's forehead. "I'm glad we got a chance to talk," he said quietly.

"Thank you," she answered with a bright smile.

He held her gaze for a moment before turning to his granddaughter. "And I'll see you tomorrow." He gave her a quick kiss and then moved away toward the door.

Lucia seemed just the slightest bit awkward as she hesitated for a moment before approaching them. She reached down to give Callie a hug and whispered something in her ear before she stood up and looked down at Arizona. "I meant it when I said you're part of our family now."

Arizona took a deep breath and looked down to make sure Callie had a firm grip of their daughter before she lifted her arm toward Lucia, inviting her in for a hug. The older woman seemed surprised, but to her credit she relaxed quickly and leaned down to wrap Arizona in a warm hug.

"Thank you," Arizona whispered to her.

"I should thank you for making my daughter happy. That's all I've ever wanted."

"We have something important in common then," Arizona replied just before Lucia stood back up. The two women looked at each other for a few seconds, and there was a simple understanding that passed between them. In that moment, Arizona knew Callie's mother would continue to make progress when it came to accepting them. _Hell, I'm willing to bet we get an anniversary card by next year at the latest_.

Lucia nodded once and then turned to say goodbye to Sofia with a soft kiss to her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, sweet one."

Sofia's dark eyes blinked up at her grandmother before she turned back to Arizona, her little hands reaching up to grab at the mask covering her mother's face. Arizona did not really hear the last of the conversation between Callie and her parents and didn't really notice as they left the room. She was too focused on her daughter. _He's right. I'll never love you any less, Sofia. In fact I think I'll love you more and more every day, no matter how many kids we end up having. _ "You're my baby girl," she said aloud as she reached up to rub a finger gently across the skin of Sofia's plump baby cheek.

A few moments of play went by between them before Callie leaned her head down into Arizona's line of sight. "Did you hear me?"

"What?" Arizona really hadn't. She'd been so focused on her daughter. "I'm sorry. She's just so absorbing."

"Yes, she is." Callie took a moment to kiss Sofia's head before she returned her attention to Arizona. "I asked you what you wanted to talk to my father about. He wouldn't tell me a thing."

"Huh? Oh that?" Arizona laughed to give herself a moment. She really didn't want to have this discussion with Callie right at that moment. This was her time with Sofia and distracting things like deep conversations about their family and future, while incredibly important, could wait until tomorrow when Sofia was off being spoiled by her grandparents and they could sit quietly together and have a good long talk. "I just wanted some childhood blackmail stories."

"You are the worst liar ever." She looked down at Sofia. "I hope you get that from your mama. It'll make parenting a teenager so much easier."

Arizona laughed at that as she again tickled Sofia's belly. "I hope that, too. I never got away with anything as a kid." She then looked back up at her wife and shrugged. "We talked. About stuff."

"Now you're being evasive. You're not much better at that." Callie's eyebrow rose but there was just enough humor in her eyes to keep things light.

Arizona looked down at Sofia and started crawling the fingers of her right hand up the baby's leg, much to Sofia's amusement. "We talked about you and I having more kids." She looked up to cut off the question she knew was on Callie's lips. "Let's talk about this tomorrow, when Sofia isn't here. We need to have a talk anyway, and I'll tell you everything he said. I just needed some advice and he was really helpful. I don't mean to push this off or be cryptic, but I just want to enjoy these few minutes with our daughter, and then I am going to kick you both out so you can take her home and spend some time with her before putting her to bed in her crib in our apartment. Poor thing has been sleeping at Mark's for a few nights and we all know she likes our nursery better. It's the animals on the walls." Arizona, of course, had been the one to pick out the décor, which bore a striking resemblance to the animals that adorned her lab coat. She had been quite happy when Sofia had gotten old enough to begin noticing, and obviously loving, the animals on her walls and on the mobile hanging over her crib. The clowns painted on the walls in Mark's place were not so beloved, and Arizona often feared the reason Sofia so often woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep was she was having clown nightmares. Clowns were hostile and disturbing, after all. Hadn't Mark ever seen _Killer Klowns from Outer Space_? Or _Pee Wee's Big Adventure_? She shuddered at the thought before shaking her head of those thoughts and looking back up at Callie. "Tomorrow. I promise."

Callie was regarding her with a curious mixture of concern and humor. "Okay."

Arizona was happy that Callie left it at that. While her wife could easily push when it was necessary, she was also incredibly good at knowing when things needed to be left unsaid. "Full disclosure tomorrow," she reiterated before dropping her attention back down to Sofia. "Now, let's enjoy Baby Boo time while she's here, okay?" She leaned forward and snuggled into the little girl's cheek, placing loud quick kisses on the skin there and earning a loud giggle from the baby. She looked up at Callie and smiled brightly. "I want to enjoy my two favorite girls in the whole world."

Callie leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Arizona's forehead. "Sofia and I love you, you know that? Don't we baby girl? We love mama more than anything."

Sofia bounced on her legs, letting out a light squeal and clapping her hands.

"I think she agrees," Arizona said with a delighted laugh. In that moment Arizona knew Carlos was right. She had loved Callie with all of her heart before Sofia was even conceived and yet that love hadn't diminished at all with the new arrival in their lives, it had only deepened her love for her wife. _I can do this. I can give us the gift of another child, of more love in our life. I want that more than anything. I want that for my girls and I want that for me. _ "I love you both so much. More and more every day."

TBC...


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Yes, sorry about the delay again. I just had the worst time finding the motivation to finish this, because it'll never be good enough and it's hard to let it go. There's an epilogue after this that is done (well the rough draft is), but it won't be posted for a few days. I like to keep you guys waiting just a little. Anticipation is so great!

And how convenient of _Private Practice_ to throw a nice little storyline that dovetails with this one in recently. So, just a warning that this chapter has spoilers for the _Private Practice_ episodes starting with April 17th. I should note I don't really watch that show much, so I'm hoping I got the scene with Addison correct. If not, we'll call this mildly A/U. It really is kind of A/U anyway since this story started in about March of this year and now we're dealing with some story elements from May (but obviously not all since Owen and Cristina aren't having issues in my story). Just go with it

As always, any comments are welcome and appreciated. I'm going to try to be better about replying to comments, so give me something to reply to. Please!

* * *

><p>"Boo!"<p>

Callie almost lost the cup of coffee and paper bag of food in her hands. It took her a second to regain her composure before she turned and smiled brightly. "Addie!" She went to hug her and then was reminded that her hands were full so she quickly put the drink and food down on the counter and wrapped her friend in a tight hug. "It's so good to see you."

"You, too," Addison replied as she pulled back, an equally broad smile on her face. She then sobered slightly. "Granted, I'd prefer it not be because your wife is in the hospital."

"Well, you know us. Sometimes we go a little too far to get visits from long lost friends." She nudged Addison playfully with her hip. "But, seriously, thank you for coming. I know things are crazy right now. How's the little guy?"

Addison's face absolutely lit up. "He's amazing. He's down in the daycare if you want to go see him."

"Do I? Pah-lease." She gathered her items off the counter and then motioned Addison down the hall toward the elevators.

"Is Sofia there today? I can't wait to see her." Addison said as she fell in to step alongside Callie.

"Sadly no. She's having a grandparents' day. All four of them are going to do their best to spoil the hell out of her." Callie laughed. "I had to remind them all this morning that we live in a relatively small apartment and not some huge 5-bedroom home. But I'm still afraid."

"Oh, I can imagine," Addie said with a gentle chuckle. "Well, it's not like I won't be here a while, so I'll get to see her another day. Getting a heart for the Johnsons could take a while and I told Dr. Hunt that as long as the hospital puts me up at the Archfield and Henry has free day care so I can run down to see him all the time, I'm willing to stick around until things settle down and Arizona's case load can be properly handled. I imagine it'll be a while until she's back to cutting."

Callie pressed the elevator button and looked over at her friend, her face much more serious than it had been. "She's got a little movement in her left hand, but it's still going to be a lot of physical therapy. Even then who knows if she'll get enough dexterity back to operate again. But she's tough and a crazy hard worker, so if anyone can overcome this, she can."

"Just don't let it turn into another Burke situation," Addison added as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

Callie followed her into the elevator. "Like Arizona would ever let an intern operate for her. First of all, she has too much integrity. But even worse, she's too much of a control freak. And besides," Callie added with a twinkle to her eye, "she's banging another attending, not some first year."

Addison laughed quietly as the elevator filled up with other people and the doors shut. "So, any good hospital gossip?"

"Sadly, it's been a little quiet lately…"

They chatted the entire rest of their trip down to the nursery. Only when they walked in and Addison led them to the small room that was set aside for babies did they become quiet. Addie smiled at the woman keeping watch over the four bassinets before going over to the one farthest from the door and pulling out the baby. He murmured quietly when she lifted him, but he settled quietly as she cradled him in her arms. She brought him over to Callie, who quickly set the items in her hand down on a side table. "Callie, meet Henry. Henry, this is one of my dear friends, Callie."

Callie felt her heart melt as Addie gently handed Henry to her. She looked down at his adorable face, with his dark eyes blinking up at her, and she was beyond smitten. "Hey there little man. Your mommy is so happy to have you. And let me tell you a secret. You're really lucky to have her. She's going to be an awesome mom."

"Thanks," Addison said as she went over and sat down on one of the rocking chairs in the room.

Callie moved to sit in the adjacent one, gently rocking while she kept most of her attention on Henry. He yawned and scrunched his eyes up tightly and she couldn't help but smile. "He's beautiful, Addison."

"Thanks," she replied. There was a bit of a pause and then she said softly, "You really want another one, don't you?"

Callie's smile turned a little wistful as she looked back up at Addison. "More than anything. We've talked about this and I'm just so afraid of the heartache we might go through if I can't get pregnant again."

Addison closed her eyes and nodded. "I know that all too well." Her blue eyes then flickered open and she smiled gently. "My offer still stands to do exploratory surgery. I know that won't give us all the answers, but it might help."

"No, I…" Callie's voice drifted off as she sighed. "We might just try and see how it goes."

"What about Arizona? Once she's better I mean."

Callie shrugged. "She told me she's thinking about it, which is an improvement over the big spat we had the morning of the plane crash. She basically said no way to getting pregnant then. But maybe life and death made her think about it a bit more. We still need to talk about it and I know she won't suddenly be dying to get her feet up in the stirrups to be inseminated."

"You could always go lesbian cliché with the turkey baster," Addison said with a slight laugh.

Callie couldn't help but laugh, too. "Maybe not a turkey baster, but a nice sterile syringe is a possibility. But those details are long down the road. We have a lot to decide before we get down to the nitty gritty." She looked back down at Henry and smiled as he wrinkled up his nose in his sleep. "We could always adopt, too. You and Derek and Meredith are definitely good poster children for adoption."

Addison sighed quietly and there was a ghost of pain across her features. "In the end it's working out, but there was a lot of heartache and frustration along the way. It's hard when you get your hopes up and things don't work out. It can be a long, hard road. Then again so is insemination, unless you get lucky early on. "

Callie let out a frustrated groan and looked up toward the ceiling. "Why couldn't God have made this easier?"

Addison's laughter was louder this time. "Nothing worthwhile is ever easy."

"Tell me about it." She then looked back over at her friend. "Well, I better get up to see Arizona. She's probably biting interns' heads off. She hates lying around doing nothing." She leaned over and gently transferred the baby back to Addison before standing up. "Stop by later. I'll be in her room most of the day. I don't start back to work until tomorrow."

Addison shifted Henry in her arms and looked up at Callie with a nod. "I want to talk to her about a few of her cases anyway."

Callie gathered her coffee cup and the paper bag from the side table before turning back to Addison. "Alright see you then." She then softened her voice. "Sleep well, sweet Henry." She took one last moment to drink in the beautiful scene of her friend with her new baby, feeling a renewed sense of awe at the power of motherhood, before leaving the room to head upstairs to Arizona's room.

* * *

><p>Arizona flipped through the channels rapidly. "Talk show, repeat of a reality show, cooking show, cooking show, news. God how can there be so many channels and yet nothing on?" She finally settled on a rerun of <em>Deadliest Catch.<em> She'd seen it before, but it was one of those shows that she could let run in the background and enjoy in bits and pieces.

Her door opened and Mark came in, followed by Derek and Tim Wright, one of the many physical therapists that Callie had scared off when she was working on getting back on her feet after their car accident. "Good morning, sunshine," Mark said with a broad grin.

"Oh, look, it's Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee," she said with a light laugh.

Derek quickly pointed at Mark. "Oh, he's so Tweedle Dum."

"Am not," Mark bit back with his hands on his hips.

"Are too!"

Arizona laughed as she looked at Tim. "I can so see them as ten year olds when they are like this."

"Seriously," Tim said as he went over to sit on the couch in her room. "I'm going to stay out of this until they are done checking you out, and then we'll get to work."

"Checking her out," Mark said with a sophomoric laugh. "He said checking her out."

Arizona rolled her eyes with a loud groan. "Okay, boys, can we get on with this? My wife will be here any minute and I would much rather spend the day with her than with you two misfits. No offense."

"None taken," Derek said.

"Speak for yourself," Mark added with a laugh. He then got a little more serious. "No worries. We just want to check on how things are continuing to heal up."

"Feel free," she said as she watched the two men move over toward her left arm. First Mark pulled back the bandage on her upper arm. Arizona cringed as she looked down at the open wound. There was something disturbing about being able to see inside your own body.

Mark hummed quietly. "Looks pretty good. I've got a call in to one of your former colleagues, John Quinn, to see if he can come out to help with the muscle grafting. Callie suggested him."

"He's great," Arizona said, feeling relieved to know that someone as renowned as Dr. Quinn would hopefully be consulting on her case. "He's a good guy, too. Can drink an elephant under the table."

Mark's smile got slightly devilish. "We'll have to take him to Joe's and see if he can beat me."

"Beat you?" Arizona said with a laugh. "Callie drinks you under the table on a regular basis."

"Yeah, well, I swear she stores all that tequila in her boobs. It's not fair," Mark said as she applied a new bandage to her bicep. When he was finished, he looked up at her and his eyes were softer. "Really, I think you're farther along that I thought you would be. If I were a betting man…"

"And you are," Derek piped in quickly.

"…And I sometimes am," Mark said with a quick look at his childhood friend, "I would say you'll be back in the OR in no time."

Arizona's eyebrow went up in question as she looked at Derek. "Okay, now that the skin guy has spoken, what's the nerve guy say?"

"Skin guy?" Mark said quietly as he went over to fall down in a huff next to Tim on the couch.

Derek laughed quietly as he looked down at her hand. "Let me see what you can do."

Arizona wiggled her fingers, watching as all but her pinky moved, even if those movements were a little jerky. She then flexed her wrist a little, before letting her hand fall back down. "Damn, that's heavy," she said with a quiet chuckle.

"I can imagine," Derek said as he flipped open her chart and made a note. "But it's looking good. That's a huge improvement in just a day."

"Okay, now are you a betting man?" she asked him, because she knew if anyone would give it to her straight, it would be Derek.

"Sometimes," he said with a slight smile without looking up from her chart. He finally finished writing and tucked his pen in the pocket of his lab coat before looking up at her. "I'll need some more scans, but like I said, you're doing better than I thought you'd be. Will your left hand ever be exactly the same as it was? Probably not exactly, but it's looking more and more like you'll have plenty of dexterity to handle day to day functions and I'd say you have a better than fifty percent chance of getting enough fine motor function to be able to operate. It's not your scalpel hand at least. The key is going to be using what you have to the best of your ability."

"Hence, Tim," Arizona said with a nod at the physical therapist.

"I'll have you playing piano in no time," Tim said with a laugh.

"You realize I don't have a musical bone in my body," Arizona countered.

Tim stood and took Arizona's chart from Derek. "Doesn't matter. I'm that good."

"He is," Mark added quickly as he stood from the couch. "Just don't be crabby like Callie was and listen to him."

"I'm an angel compared to her when it comes to stuff like this," she said as Mark and Derek waved to her and headed out of her room. When the door shut she turned back to Tim. "Just because I'm angel doesn't mean I'm not going to work my ass off, though. Give it to me. Everything you can think of and then some."

"That's what I like to hear. So let's get started."

* * *

><p>Callie poked her head into Arizona's room. "Hey, beautiful, you up for a visit from your better half?"<p>

Arizona looked up from where she was reading something on her phone, a huge smile instantly lighting up her face. "I'm so happy to see you I can't even pretend I'm not excited." She patted the bed next to her. "Come over here. I need some Calliope time."

Callie laughed quietly as she placed her paper bag and coffee cup on the side table before lowering the bed's side rail and sitting down next to Arizona's hip. She leaned down over her and whispered, "Good morning."

"Good morning," Arizona whispered back before reaching up to wrap her hand in Callie's hair and draw her down into a slow kiss that eventually left them both just a little breathless.

Callie pulled back from the kiss by a few inches so she could look into those amazing blue eyes that she loved so much. "How are you feeling this morning? Did I miss anything?"

"I'm feeling stronger. I even started moving my ring finger so yay for more movement."

Callie mimicked Arizona's enthusiasm. "Yay!"

Arizona laughed. "Tim Wright is my PT. In fact you just missed him. We did a little work this morning to establish a baseline and he'll be back this afternoon. Told him I want as much work as he'll give me but I promised I'd be more cooperative than a certain wife of mine."

"Bah, cooperation is overrated," Callie said before placing one more quick kiss on Arizona's lips and then sitting up. "But he's good. I work with him a lot and patients seem to really like him. He's got a great success rate, too. I was just being crabby back then."

"That's funny. Mark said the exact same thing this morning."

"Mark called me crabby?"

"He might have said you were crabby back after the accident. No, he definitely said you were crabby back then. It's a direct quote."

"Well then I don't feel so bad that Sofia kept him up half the night." Callie smirked as she stood up to pull over the guest chair so she could sit near Arizona's hip.

"I thought she was staying with you last night," Arizona said with a quirk to her eyebrow. "Am I busting you?"

"Nope," Callie replied with an emphatic shake of her head. "She wouldn't go back to sleep, so I decided Daddy needed to share in my pain without you there to work your magic. He came over and paced in the nursery for something like two hours." Callie's smile grew. "Thank God for earplugs."

"I'm glad you got some sleep. Although really it wasn't nice to make him stay up when he had to work today, you know. But as much as I sympathize with him, I'm not letting him in on my secret Sofia sleeping technique."

Callie laughed loudly. "Since you won't give me your secret, it'd be grounds for divorce if you gave it to Mark first."

Arizona's smile was a little sly. "Then I guess our marriage is safe." Her eyes focused on the paper bag on the side table. "Okay, so what did you bring me? I certainly hope that's for me at least, because I'm allowed clear liquids and a half a cup of jello today and I'm so looking forward to it." She bit at her lip. "Well, maybe not the jello so much."

"Ah yes, clear liquids and jello. Definitely not my favorite phase of the dietary recovery." Callie reached over to pick up the paper bag. She opened it, looked into it before shooting Arizona a mischievous smile, and then pulled out the small soup container. "I brought you some of your favorite matzo ball soup, minus the balls."

Arizona snorted loudly. "There's a joke sitting right over home plate if I ever heard one." She reached out to take the soup container once Callie removed the lid and then held it up to her nose and took a sniff. "Even barely luke warm this stuff smells like heaven." She took a sip and almost moaned. "So good."

"Drink it slowly. You haven't had any food in days and I don't want you getting sick from it." Callie reached over and picked up her coffee to take a drink. "I ran into Addison on my way up here. We went to see Henry. He's so adorable."

Arizona watched her over the rim of the soup container for a moment before lowering it. "You've got that 'babies are the best thing ever' expression on your face." Arizona lowered the soup and she smiled. "You really want another one, don't you?"

"Of course," Callie said before her smile dissipated and her brow scrunched up. She let out a deep breath, almost afraid to ask the question that sprang to her mind. "Do you? Do you want another child? I know we've kind of danced around the subject the last few months and then our fight—"

"Stop," Arizona said as she reached over to grab Callie's hand, giving it a tight squeeze. "Of course I want another child. I want Sofia to have a little brother or sister." She gently rubbed her hand up and down Callie's forearm in that soothing way she had. "I want to know what it's like to plan a child with you and only you." Her eyes went wide and she quickly added, "That doesn't mean I regret Sofia and how she came to be, of course."

Callie had no doubt how much Arizona loved their daughter so she quickly moved over to the bed again and gave her wife a quick kiss. "Don't be such a moron, Arizona. I know you love her. And I want to have that experience with you, too. We deserve that this time around. I'm…" She sat up straighter and when she spoke, her voice cracked slightly. "I'm sorry I suggested Mark the other day. I wasn't thinking. I knew better and to be honest, I like the idea of having an anonymous donor this time around."

Arizona bit at her lip, obviously trying to keep a broad smile from spreading to her lips. "Really? We can really do this without Mark this time? I mean I know you said that before, but—"

"Yes, we can do it without Mark," Callie answered with a light chuckle. Just the way Arizona's face lit up at the idea made Callie happy. It was such a change from their recent fight and it made her so relieved to see Arizona be excited about having another child. Part of her realized that Arizona had signed up to follow Callie's dream, but along the way had found having children was something she wanted too. And seeing that change in her wife was something that really made Callie happy, for both of them. "While Addie's here, we can run some more tests. She offered to do some exploratory surgery, too, if that's what we want."

"No," Arizona said quickly.

"No?" Callie felt a moment of panic before her brain kicked in, reminding her that Arizona had just said she wanted another child. "I told her I didn't want the surgery, but maybe it would be a good idea. Or should we just try? Insemination can be expensive and I'd like to have as much information as possible before putting all that money out, but we can also just have the non-invasive tests I guess and roll the dice."

"That's not what I mean," Arizona said. She handed Callie her cup of soup and motioned with her head to the side table. Once Callie put the soup down, Arizona reached over and took her hand. "I told you I'd give it some thought, and I have. I think I'll give it a shot this go-around." She shrugged, "Once I'm feeling better of course. Hell if I can't operate, I'll have plenty of time for maternity leave and staying home with the kids."

Callie felt her mouth drop open in surprise. She just stared at Arizona for a few moments, her mind trying to catch up to what her wife had just said. "Are you sure?" She then fully took in what Arizona said. "And quit it with the 'if I can't operate' crap, okay? But, really, are you sure? That's quite the one-eighty."

"I'm like 98 percent sure, but let's just go with it." She let out a long breath. "I've had a lot of time to think—in the plane, while I've been lying here, and to be honest, I even had some strange, um, visitations I guess you could call them, while I was unconscious."

"Visitations? They didn't sing, did they? Because mine sang, and that was just strange. Well, okay, the only visitation was me singing, but still, the absolute definition of strange." Callie couldn't help but laugh at the memory of her own experience of being unconscious after the car crash. She then sobered quickly, knowing this was a very serious discussion they were having, one that could mean major changes in their relationship and in their lives. "Sorry, I don't mean to make light of it. Go ahead and explain." She scooted a little closer to Arizona's hip and reached over to gently run her hand up and down Arizona's leg.

"Let me start at the beginning, with our fight. I guess I hadn't really given it much thought and when I was confronted with the idea of being our next baby's birth mother, I just reacted from the gut." She let out the lightest of self-deprecating laughs. "I'm not exactly someone who digs deep into her own psyche to figure out how she ticks."

Callie smiled in understanding. "No, you're not. But that's okay. I don't like to either."

Arizona's laughter deepened as she reached over to take Callie's hand. "I guess that's why we're so perfect for each other." She took a breath and then continued to explain, "I just went with my gut and had no idea why I dismissed it so out of hand. And then the whole Mark thing came up and I exploded. I'm really sorry about that. This is something we should always talk about rationally."

"Well, I did go for a few low blows. I still feel horrible for bringing your brother into this. I know exactly how to get to you and I used that. I should never do that." She felt a lump form in her throat. "I promise to try really hard never to do that again."

"I know and I forgive you. I really do. But, yeah, don't do it again." Arizona's laughter was a little dry, but it helped take the sting away from her words. "Anyway, I'm not sure if I made any progress on the idea before the crash because I really can't remember the flight. Cristina said we talked about it a little, so I know it was on my mind. I wish I could remember."

"Don't worry about it."

"You're right. Well out in the plane, as the infection started to mess with my brain, I had this strange dream about a little blonde girl. I figure she was probably me. And there was another girl, and I'm pretty sure she was you, and she was trying to get the little me to come outside. But little me wouldn't. Now that I think about it, I figure it was my subconscious telling me to stop being afraid, that I should take the leap, but at the time I just thought it was a strange dream. But it turns out that was about the least strange thing that happened to me while I was out of it."

"Little you and me, huh? I bet we were adorable."

Arizona's smile lit up her eyes. "So unbelievably cute." Her blue eyes seemed to lose a little focus as she obviously was going back into some memory. "Beyond cute." She shook her head a little and then focused again on Callie. "But, let's get back to what happened. Then when I was unconscious, I guess after I was in the hospital, but I'm not sure, well I had these two visits. At least I hope it was a visit. I'm not exactly the biggest believer in an afterlife, but maybe I was wrong."

"Arizona Robbins finding religion? I guess that could account for the change of heart."

"Not religion, but maybe a belief that there's something of us that sticks around, even if it is only in the minds of our loved ones." Arizona swallowed before her eyes moved to meet Callie's. "Tim was the first one." The smile that came to Arizona's lips seemed so unconscious, like she couldn't help but smile at the thought. "He told me he got some of his dead military buddies to dance for our wedding."

Callie smiled as she squeezed Arizona's hand. "I would have liked to have seen that. The chicken dance? Please say it was the chicken dance."

Arizona nodded with a loud bark of laughter. "Yup the big bad soldiers doing the chicken dance at the lesbian wedding. Would have been a thing to see."

"Yes it would have." Callie's voice softened then as she became more serious, "Okay, so what else did he say, besides details of the ghosts dancing for our nuptuals?"

"He was really kind of cryptic. He just told me not to be afraid. Now that I think about it, he was obviously telling me not to be afraid about having a child, like physically having it." She sighed quietly. "It was really good to see Tim again, though. I miss him."

"You know I believe you'll see him again someday."

"I sure hope so. Oh," she added quickly, her eyes lighting up in amusement, "he said you were hot."

Callie bit at her lip to try to keep the smile from coming too quickly to her lips. "I guess you Robbins kids have good taste then."

"We have impeccable taste."

"The best." While Callie was certainly enjoying this line of discussion, she wanted to get them back on track. "You said earlier you had visitations, as in plural. Who else did you see?"

"My grandfather, the one that died in the war. So of course I have no idea if he was just in my subconscious because I don't know what he sounded like. But he looked like his pictures." She shrugged.

"What did he have to say?" Callie wasn't sure what to make of these visions that Arizona said she had, but it wasn't something she was willing to dismiss out of hand. "Did he have any words of wisdom?"

"Yes and no," Arizona said with a quiet sigh. "I wasn't ready to hear what he had to say. He told me I was afraid."

"Of?"

"I've had a lot of time to think, and I talked to my mom and your father about this."

"Is that what you talked to him about? Why him?" Callie was more curious than confused. She couldn't figure out why her father would be someone to give points of wisdom about Arizona's fears.

"I'll get there," Arizona said as she patted Callie's hand in that way she did when she was jokingly pointing out Callie's occasional lack of patience. She then got a little quiet and bit at her lip. "I think my fears are kind of two-fold, although they're related. I'm in a way afraid that if I have a child myself, if I am the birthmother, there will be that special bond everyone always talks about. And what does that mean about my bond with Sofia? And then what if something happens to the new baby? I'm not sure I could survive that. It almost killed my mother between her miscarriages and Timothy's death." The last part she said in barely a whisper and she kept her eyes focused on her lap, almost as if she were afraid to meet Callie's gaze.

"I'm not sure I understand. You think there's some magical mommy bond that comes because you carry the baby around for a few months? Don't you realize that of the three of us, you have the closest bond with Sofia? How could that be the case if there was that bond you think exists?"

"I don't have a better bond with her."

Callie rolled her eyes and reached over to force Arizona to look at her. "Haven't you ever noticed how she lights up when you come into the room? And you have the magic touch at bed time and in the middle of the night. Mark sees it, too."

Arizona shook her head like she was a little confused. "You and Mark talked about this?"

"A few weeks ago. He has a theory why you two have that bond, beyond just being a super awesome mom I mean. I carried her for those months, but you were the one who gave her life. He said it was your voice she heard first after you got her heart going. And you were the first person to touch her." She laughed as she remembered her conversation with Mark. "He said something about you throwing him a hip check in the NICU so that you could be the first one to hold her hand without gloves."

A blush came to Arizona's cheeks as she smiled. "Okay, yeah, I might have done that." When she looked up at Callie again, she seemed perplexed. "Mark said that? Because, to be honest, I don't remember what happened in the OR that well. I mean I remember being up in the observation deck when your heart stopped, and I remember how terrified I was. I was standing there watching the love of my life on the table and you flat-lined."

Callie's heart constricted and tears came to her eyes as she heard the pain in her wife's voice. "You've never talked about that."

Arizona swallowed hard and her voice shook when she finally spoke. "At that moment, for those few minutes actually, my life was over. I thought losing Tim was horrible, but the thought of losing you, and probably losing our baby…" She closed her eyes and a tear escaped. "It was the worst thing that ever happened to me."

Callie quickly reached up to catch the tear on her finger. "Arizona, you don't have to say anymore. Honey, I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

"No," Arizona replied quickly, her voice now stronger. "I've never told you what I experienced that day, but maybe I need to. I've always felt like I didn't want to burden you, because really it was my fault that you almost died, that Sofia almost never took a breath. If I had kept my eyes on the road—"

"Stop!" Callie sighed in frustration. "Now we have had that discussion and you know I don't blame you. We were both at fault, if anything." She waited for Arizona to nod before letting out a breath that felt like it quickly washed the frustration out of her body. "Do you want to tell me more? We can always talk about this later."

"I'm not sure there's much more to say. I mean, once Addison went to perform the C-section, Mark and I ran downstairs. And when I got into the OR, you were still, well, dead and Sofia wasn't breathing and didn't have a pulse. I stood there and I remember thinking that I had lost everything, absolutely everything. I remember Mark looking at me with so much desperation in his eyes and then it's like a switch went off and I went instantly into that professional zone, and I don't remember much. The next thing I really remember is just this wash of relief. I could hear the beeping of your cardiac monitor and I could feel our baby's heart beating." That amazing smile of Arizona's returned suddenly. "You were both alive. And suddenly the worst day of my life became the best day of my life."

Callie felt her own tears pooling in her eyes and she had to quickly wipe at them so that her vision remained clear. "I…" She felt the emotion closing off her throat and she swallowed hard. "I can't imagine how hard that was."

"It's over, okay? Everyone lived and you two are healthy. That's all I need is to have my family be happy and healthy." Arizona reached up to gently rub her hand along Callie's cheek. "You and Sofia are everything to me. I guess that's why I had that kneejerk reaction to getting pregnant. I want Sofia to be everything and she is, but I think I was just afraid that getting pregnant and having a child myself might change that."

"Well, I think you're wrong about that," Callie said with determination.

"Your father said the same thing. I asked him to stay, because I wanted to ask him if he felt any different between you and your sister." She shrugged. "He doesn't."

Callie couldn't help but let out a loud laugh at that. "I'm not so sure Aria would agree with him, but she can be a bit of a sourpuss sometimes."

Arizona joined in the laughter for a moment but quickly became more serious. "I guess I just have to realize that I don't know how I'll feel about anything and I can't worry about a tragedy that may never happen. I just have to do the best I can and make the right decision for our family. And I think that the right thing for us is that I should try to get pregnant next. There's no reason you should risk it. There could be all kinds of complications and the chances you could miscarry are higher. Once I'm all healed and totally back on my feet—and, yes, we'll wait until I'm one hundred percent better—we'll try, okay?"

"Are you sure? Like really sure?" Callie didn't want to truly celebrate this change of heart from her wife, didn't want to start hoping they would have a second child, until she was sure that Arizona really wanted this. "I want _you_ to want this. Please don't want this just for me."

Arizona's gaze was so calm, probably calmer than Callie had seen it since the morning of the crash. "Every day, every hour, I'm getting more and more used to the idea. Am I ever going to have no doubts? No. Change is always scary. But I want to do this for you and for me. And for Sofia. I'm as sure as I'll ever be."

Callie felt such a wash of relief, of happiness, of downright joy. She sprang to her feet, a huge smile breaking out on her face, and pulled Arizona into her arms. "You are amazing, Arizona Robbins. So truly, truly amazing. And I love you so much," she whispered into her ear.

"Okay, okay, you're squishing me." Arizona's laugh rumbled in Callie's ear. "I love you, too, but don't forget the massive incision on my abdomen."

"Oh, right," Callie said as she gently set Arizona back onto her pillows. "Sorry about that. I was just excited. I mean, I would have happily tried to get pregnant again, I really would have. And to be honest, I'm probably being a little selfish, but I want a little you. A mini-Arizona." A sly smile came to her lips. "We need to find a blonde, blue-eyed donor. Ooh, can we find one with dimples, too? Then little baby Robbins would be so just like you." She bounced on the bed next to Arizona. "Sorry, I'm just a little excited."

Arizona's laughter was loud and happy. "Yes, yes, we can find a blonde, blue-eyed donor, although finding dimples might be a little over the top. I'd rather we get someone who's smart, well-educated, with a good family medical history."

"Of course. That's the most important thing. And cute. I want a cute guy." When Arizona's eyebrow lifted and those blue eyes seemed to pierce right through her, Callie shrugged. "What? Your genes would hopefully overcome ugly genes, but just in case."

Arizona's eyes rolled before she chuckled quietly. "Okay, good looking, too." She reached up to grab the front of Callie's top and pull her down so that she was snuggled up to Arizona's shoulder. "As long as he or she is a healthy baby, all the rest is just icing."

"Yeah." Callie sighed as she snuggled closer. "And if he or she isn't, we'll still love this baby and get through everything together. We're in this life together."

"We are," Arizona whispered as she leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on the crown of Callie's head. "But we so have to stop getting ourselves into these life or death situations."

"Cross my heart," Callie said as she felt herself relax into Arizona. "No more life or death."

"Good. And me too. We need to be here for our kids, after all."

Callie giggled despite herself. "Our kids. We're going to have kids, as in plural." She paused to think about the future, about the two of them living in a big house with a few kids all sitting around the table having dinner, laughter and excited discussions shooting around between the kids and their two mothers. And as the kids grew up, they'd be great people, doing so well in school, and eventually going off to the best colleges, maybe following in their mothers' footsteps by going to medical school. Or maybe they'd be lawyers, professors, or even artists or writers. It didn't matter to her, as long as they followed their dreams. "Shit," she said as those thoughts of their kids chasing their dreams continued to flit through her mind, "we better start saving up for all those college bills."

"Oh, please," Arizona said with a light slap to Callie's shoulder, "our kids will be brilliant. They'll get full ride offers to every Ivy League school out there."

"Okay, seriously Arizona, while I agree our children will be perfect and smart, let's be a little more realistic than that. And, besides, if they get scholarships, we'll have a nice amount of money saved up to go on some amazing vacations."

"Vacations sound good," Arizona agreed quietly. She rubbed her cheek up against Callie's head. "Now, let's enjoy the quiet before some intern comes running in here trying to impress Bailey with his ability to draw blood or get me down for the right CT scan or whatever. Besides, once more kids start popping up in our lives, there won't be many quiet times."

"Sounds perfect," Callie said as she leaned up on her elbow and looked down at Arizona. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

"I never get tired of hearing it."

Callie waited and when Arizona did not respond further she furrowed her brow. "Hey, where's my I love you, too?"

Arizona pursed her lips and got an almost comical look of concentration on her face. Her face then almost instantaneously broke out into a wide glowing smile. "Of course I love you. I'll always love you. Now put your head back on my shoulder so we can cuddle."

Callie shook her head in amusement. "Yes, ma'am." She snuggled back onto Arizona's shoulder, sighing in contentment as she felt the familiar comfort of being close to Arizona. _How amazingly lucky are we? Arizona survived a plane crash and was found just in time to save her. Her hand is getting better. And now we're planning the next step in our family. I don't know what I did to deserve this life, but I'll never stop being grateful. Never._

TBC…


	14. Epilogue

A/N: And this is the end…hope you enjoyed it and sorry it took me so long to write this. Can't believe it took me 6 months to write 13 chapters and an epilogue. I'm usually faster than that. I promise my other story (No Matter of Chance) will have faster updates from now. It better, because I outlined it today and it's gonna clock in around 55 chapters (they're shorter though)! Yipes!

Anyway, thank you all for reading. I've really appreciated hearing your thoughts and look forward to writing more in the future. This has been a great experience for me.

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><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

Arizona tossed her purse and jacket on the couch and looked around the living room, finding it surprisingly quiet. "Anyone home?" The excitement she had felt all the way home as she thought about sharing her news with Callie was dampened a little when she did not find her wife waiting for her.

Instead, there was an answer from the window seat on the far end of the room. "Over here."

Arizona's lips curled up into an easy smile as she saw Sofia's dark curly mop of hair and deep brown eyes peer around the corner of the seat. "Hey, sweetie. Where are the trouble twins?"

"You know, if I wasn't such a good girl, I'd tell Mommy you called her and Em that. They're in the yard," she said before turning back to huddle over the book in her lap.

"Thanks for backing me up, there, kiddo." Arizona walked over to stand next to her daughter, looking down at the book in her lap, and idly playing with the dark curls. "Astronomy, huh?"

Sofia nodded as she looked up at Arizona. "Daddy got it for me. I'm going to be an astrophysicist."

Arizona couldn't help but laugh quietly. "An astrophysicist? I'm not even sure what that is. How do you know about astrophysicists?"

Sofia shook her head with the slightest of eye rolls. "I'm eight and I know what an astrophysicist is, Mama. How can you not know?" She didn't wait for an answer. "It's like a combination of astronomy and physics." The expression on her face basically said 'duh' when she explained that. "You know, like finding out how all the stuff in the universe works. I saw something on _Nova_ about it. You need to watch more science shows."

Arizona bit her lip to keep from letting out a loud laugh. Instead she smiled and nodded slowly. "I'm a little busy keeping up with how all the stuff in the body works, but you're right, I should probably branch out a little. Maybe we can find something to watch together so I can learn more about your future career."

Sofia's eyes lit up at that suggestion. "I recorded the _Nova_ special. We can watch it tonight after dinner." She got a little more serious. "Oh, wait, we need to practice the piano, too. Can we fit it all in?"

"Sure, honey. We don't need to practice too long." Arizona was so glad both of their daughters had picked up her new-found love of the piano. Who knew that one of her rehabilitation activities would turn into a wonderful family activity as well as a hobby she both loved and was surprisingly good at. "We should be able to get it all in if we get a move on soon."

"Sounds awesome," Sofia said, smiling broadly, before she suddenly got serious again as her eyes drifted back down to her book as if she had almost forgotten her mother was there.

Arizona gently nudged Sofia's legs over and sat opposite her on the window bench so they could face one another. She studied her daughter for a moment, as her head remained bowed over the book. While Sofia had become quite the reader of late, and her love for some pretty advanced topics was amazingly great, it wasn't like her oldest daughter to be inside when it was a beautiful summer day out. "Why are you in here while they're outside? It's supposed to rain tomorrow and Saturday. You should probably go enjoy the good weather while it lasts."

Sofia's brow furrowed, but her eyes did not lift from the book. It was a reaction Arizona knew well, because she herself often did it when she was avoiding something. Finally Sofia sighed a little. "I wanted to read is all."

"Uh huh," Arizona said, not buying it at all. "Come on, kiddo. Spill it."

Just then there was a loud barking that came from the house next door. Arizona watched as Sofia's entire body tensed up and her eyes grew wide. Sofia's grip on the book tightened for a moment before her eyes shot nervously toward the window. There was a moment when it almost seemed like she was going to bolt from the seat before the little girl swallowed hard, obviously trying to will herself to remain in place. "It's nothing."

Arizona stayed casual, even though she so recognized and understood her daughter's reaction. She remembered all too well how terrified she'd been of their neighbor's dog when she was about Sofia's age. She leaned toward the window and craned her neck to see the dog running up and down the fence that separated their yard from the one next door. "The Morgans got a new dog?"

Sofia looked back down at her book, but it was obvious she wasn't really seeing it. "I guess so," she said, trying to sound like it didn't matter, but Arizona could hear the tremble in her voice.

Arizona waited a moment before she put her hand on the small knee next to her and squeezed. She waited for Sofia to look up at her. "It's okay if the dog scares you, you know? When I was your age a major moved in next door and he had this dog. His name was Buddy. But I was afraid of him because he barked. A ton. And I never went out to play with my brother or our friends in the backyard, because that darned dog was back there. But finally I got sick of not going out back and playing. Tim would make fun of me and I didn't want him or my dad to think I was afraid. So, I went out back one day and I talked to that dog until he stopped barking. Finally, Buddy's tail started wagging and I knew he liked me. After that, every day after school, I'd run back there and reach over the fence to pet Buddy. I cried when we had to move to our next post because I wouldn't see Buddy again."

"Really?" Now Sofia's eyes were wide in wonder instead of fear.

"Yup. And if you want, maybe we can go out back together and see if we can talk to the new dog."

"Her name is Winnie. That's what Mommy said after she talked to Mrs. Morgan this afternoon." Sofia's eyes drifted off to the window in the direction of where the barking was coming from. Arizona could practically see the thoughts twirling through her daughter's head. Finally Sofia closed her book and looked back at her mother with a quick nod. "But only if you go with me."

"Always, baby girl," Arizona added as she stood up from the seat.

The two of them walked back through the kitchen to the back porch. When they got to the back steps, the dog started barking again and Sofia's body tensed all over once more. Arizona waited a second, squeezing her hand to reassure her, before she led her down the steps. Arizona squinted in the sunlight and shielded her eyes with her free hand, looking quickly around the backyard until she found her wife standing under the big oak on the far side of the yard, hands on her hips, her eyes fixed up into the branches.

"Emma wanted to climb," Sofia said quietly as she kept close to Arizona's side while they slowly made their way over to the fence.

Arizona laughed. "And Mommy let her?"

"She's a push over," Sofia said, mimicking something Arizona found herself telling Callie all too often when it came to their daughters.

"Yes, she is," Arizona agreed. When they were maybe five feet from the fence, they stopped and Arizona watched as the dog in the next yard ran up and down the fence line, barking occasionally. It was a large dog, gray and white with long hair that obscured its eyes. "It's a sheep dog," Arizona said quietly as she looked down to find Sofia standing rigid beside her. "Hey, pip squeak, do you want me to go over first?"

Sofia nodded her head quickly, but never took her eyes off the dog.

Arizona affectionately touched Sofia's soft hair before she went over to the fence. The dog barked loudly once before coming over to her and jumping up onto the fence. It was obvious to Arizona that the dog just wanted some attention, especially when her tail started wagging almost immediately. "Hey there Winnie," Arizona said as she put her hand over the fence to let the dog sniff at her. Winnie sniffed and then barked once before jumping up to bump into Arizona's hand. She laughed as she then scratched at the dog's head. Turning back to her daughter, she said, "See, she's nice."

"You sure?"

"Would I lie to you?" The question was out of her mouth before she realized it was probably a bad idea.

Sofia's eyebrow went up and she got that expression on her face that so mirrored Callie's when either of them wasn't taking any bull. "Do you want an honest answer?"

_Smart ass. _Arizona laughed quietly as she shook her head. "Now, come over here. Please."

Sofia came over and was cautious at first, but the dog just panted and rubbed up against her when the little girl finally put her hand over the low fence. Before long, Sofia was laughing and scratching at Winnie's floppy ears. Finally, Sofia looked up to her mother. "She's nice."

"She is." Arizona felt such a sense of pride at watching their oldest child overcome this fear. Sofia wasn't like Emma. She had a healthy sense of fear that often protected her from injury and pain. But it also kept her from doing fun things sometimes. Helping Sofia learn when it was good to have fear and when it was a hindrance was something Arizona felt she needed to take the lead on, because it was a journey she had taken as a child herself. Callie often admitted it was a lesson she hadn't learned until much later in life. Arizona sometimes wondered if she ever had.

After they spent a few minutes getting to know the dog, Arizona looked back to where Callie was still staring up at the branches of the old oak. From her body language, Arizona could tell her wife was getting a little frustrated and she could only imagine how many times Callie had asked their younger daughter to climb down. "Hey, Sofia, why don't we go see if we can help Mommy get your sister out of the tree."

Sofia giggled as she looked to the back of the yard. "Mommy doesn't look happy."

"No, she doesn't. I think we'll need your help to get Em down. Because, between you and me, I was going to ask Mommy if we could go to Vitello's for pizza tonight and if she's mad, you know she'll say no."

"Pizza?" Sofia's eyes lit up and she was suddenly sprinting off across the yard toward the old oak.

Arizona chuckled quietly before jogging off after her daughter.

"Emma Marie, you get your hiney down here right now," Callie said sternly as Arizona came into earshot.

_Uh oh. This could be bad. When the middle names come out, things are serious._

"If I have to climb up there after you…"

"You can't climb," Emma's voice carried down from between the branches.

Just the thought of Callie trying to climb up the tree made Arizona want to break down into a fit of giggles. Not that she herself would be any better at it. Women in their early forties should probably not go climbing up trees after five year olds with no sense of fear and an amazing talent for scrambling up to the top branches.

Sofia reached Callie just ahead of Arizona. The little girl looked up at Callie and then looked up into the tree. "I'll climb up and get her if you want."

Callie looked over at Arizona as she approached and rolled her eyes before looking down to focus on their older daughter. "No honey, I don't want you getting up there, too." Her voice then got louder so that it would travel up to Emma. "Your sister will climb down on her own, and right now. Right Em?"

Arizona looked up into the branches of the tree and finally found the red sneakers that their younger daughter loved. She was standing on a big branch, about fifteen feet up. It never failed to worry Arizona when Emma climbed up the tree. They'd spent entirely too many times giving Callie's colleagues in the orthopedics department too much business when Emma fell while climbing or just from the general roughhousing that she seemed to prefer. "Hey, Emma, you want to come down, sweetie?"

It only took a second before their younger daughter scrambled down one set of branches so that she was no longer lost in the foliage of the tree. When her blonde hair poked out from behind the leaves, Arizona could see Emma was being overly mischievous by the twinkle in her blue eyes. It wasn't like Arizona didn't recognize that expression, even at this distance. Tim's eyes had shone like that whenever he would egg her on to do something they shouldn't. And Callie had told her probably a million times how Emma's eyes mirrored her own when she was excited or up to no good. "Mama, you're home!"

"Yes, honey, I'm home. Now why don't you come down from there? Please?"

"I guess," Emma said as she started climbing down, swinging precariously from one branch before dropping down onto another. It only took her a few seconds before she was swinging from the bottom branch and then dropping to the ground. "I'm down."

Callie shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Thank you. But next time, can you come down when I ask you? Please?"

"I suppose," Emma said with an exasperated sigh. She then looked at her bigger sister. "I bet I can swing higher than you, Sof." Emma didn't even wait before she sprinted off toward the swing set.

"Bet you can't," Sofia answered as she followed her sister.

"She's going to be the death of me," Callie said as she came over to wrap her arms around Arizona's waist and pull her into a warm hug. She then placed a gentle kiss on her lips before leaning back to smile at Arizona. "How was your surgery?"

"It went well. I think he'll make it." Arizona thought back on the touch and go surgery she had performed earlier that afternoon. It always made her so grateful that their daughters were healthy and happy whenever she dealt with a child whose life was hanging in the balance, especially when she remembered back to those first tough weeks and months of Sofia's life. How lucky they had been for her to not only survive, but to thrive the way she had. And then the ease they had had with Emma when she was a baby had been icing on the cake. It made the bumps and bruises and even the broken bones seem a small price to pay. "So, Emma's been a handful today, huh?"

Callie's eyes rolled before she pulled out of their hug. "What else is new? I think she takes extra pleasure in torturing me when I have a day off." She took Arizona's hand and led her over to the bench that sat on the far side of the big oak tree. She settled onto the seat before pulling Arizona down gently to sit right at her hip. "Do you think she'll grow out of it soon?"

"I don't know. How old were you when you grew out of it?"

Callie's eyes narrowed, but it was more for show than out of any anger. Arizona knew her too well and she smiled when Callie finally laughed. "I know, I know. She's just like me at that age, which means we are royally screwed. I went from daredevil to the nineties version of Ally Sheedy's _Breakfast Club_ character in about 1.2 seconds. So, we've got until she's about fourteen, and then we'll have whatever the version of the hair-chewing Goth is then."

Arizona couldn't help but laugh louder. "We are so the poster children for nurture beating nature."

Callie joined in their laughter. "Yeah, although for my sanity, I kind of wish they'd both taken after you. I guess we're lucky at least Sofia is your personality mini me."

"Very true." Arizona shifted her weight and felt the envelope that was tucked into her back pocket. She couldn't help but smile as she shifted around to look at Callie. "So, what's going to happen when we have our next kid?"

Callie's expression almost deflated. "Honey, I think we might need to admit we're not going to have a third child. Between both of us trying it's been, what? Twenty months this time? We're getting to that age where having a child might be out of reach. Maybe we should start thinking about adopting. Or we could be foster parents. There are lots of needy kids out there."

Arizona barely was able to bite at her lip to keep the broad smile from breaking out. She turned away slightly from Callie and then looked over her shoulder. "Look in my back pocket."

"Huh?" Callie was clearly confused.

Arizona patted at her left rear pocket. "Look."

Callie's brow furrowed as she reached a hand into the back pocket of Arizona's jeans. She pulled out the folded envelope. "What's this?"

"Read it."

Callie looked up at her with a little mixture of amusement and trepidation as she opened the envelope and pulled out the paper inside. Her dark brown eyes then fell to the paper in her hands. It only took a few seconds before her eyes went wide and that amazing smile Arizona loved so much spread across her face. "You're pregnant?"

Arizona finally let her own smile loose as she nodded. "I'm pregnant."

"Really?"

This made Arizona laugh as she nodded again. "Really."

Callie then grabbed her in an ecstatic hug. "You're pregnant. We're pregnant!"

"We are!" Arizona pulled out of the hug and kissed Callie. "We're going to have another baby," she said quietly when the kiss ended.

They spent a moment just looking at each other, not needing to say any more. Then Callie suddenly smacked Arizona's shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me you might be pregnant?"

"Ow!" Arizona rubbed at her shoulder, more out of surprise than pain. "After all the trouble we've had, I figured I'd get it confirmed first. I couldn't stand to see you get your hopes up again only to find out there was no baby. I took a home pregnancy test this morning at work. When that was positive, I did a blood test."

Callie bit at her lip, but her smile broke through anyway. "Okay, I can forgive you, I guess." She reached down and placed a gentle hand on Arizona's stomach. "Another baby. I'm so happy, Arizona."

"Me too. So so happy. And relieved." She let her head fall on to Callie's shoulder. "So relieved."

Callie's head rested up against the crown of Arizona's. "So, do we tell the girls?"

"Let's wait. I'm not exactly thirty and you know how iffy the first trimester can be. Let's wait until after then." She smiled a little. "Although it'll be fun to see how they react when we do."

"Yeah it will be. But you're right. Besides, this way we'll have a few less months of them bugging us about when the baby will be here. Because, let's face it, if there's something they have in common, it's lack of patience."

Arizona couldn't help but laugh at the truth of that. "Seriously."

Arizona curled into Callie, who wrapped her arms around her wife's shoulder. They sat there in silence, watching their daughters swing all too high. It didn't take long before Emma jumped off when her swing was at its highest point. She sailed through the air, a loud giggle coming from her, and then landed, rolling over a few times until she ended up on her back, arms and legs sprawled out in the grass. She laughed loudly before springing to her feet and running over to where Callie and Arizona were sitting. "Mommy, Mama, did you see that? I flew really high!"

"Yes you did, honey," Callie said.

"Don't encourage her," Arizona whispered. She then sat up and pulled Emma over into her arms. "So, Em, what should we do for dinner?"

"Pizza!" It was always her answer when asked.

"So, Mommy, what do you say," Arizona asked as she turned to Callie. "Vitello's?"

Callie looked from Arizona to Emma and then back. "We could cook."

"Nah," Arizona said.

"Nah," Emma mimicked.

"How can I resist the Mama and Emma double team?" Callie laughed before looking at Emma. "Go tell Sofia you two need to wash up and then we'll go to Vitello's, okay?"

Emma sprang out of Arizona's arms and ran back toward the swings. "Sofia, come on, we need to clean up. We're getting pizza!"

Sofia quickly dragged her feet to slow the swing and then jumped off when it was almost at a stop. She ran after Emma, who was already almost to the back porch door. "Wait up!"

Callie stood up and held out her hand to Arizona, who took it and quickly jumped up from the bench. They wrapped their arms around each other's waists and started back toward the house. "A third kid, huh?" Callie mused quietly. "Think we can handle it?"

Just then Emma's voice came through the open window in the kitchen. "Sofia, give it to me."

"It's mine, Emma. Moms! Emma stole my book!"

There was some more shrill screaming from the house.

Callie stopped and looked at Arizona. "Maybe this one will be a boy. Boys are easier, right?"

Arizona laughed. "I don't think it matters. If the kid is ours, it'll be a handful."

"We are so screwed," Callie replied before trudging off toward the house. "Emma, if you don't give that back to your sister right this second, I'm feeding you liver for dinner," she called out as she stalked up the porch steps.

Arizona laughed quietly as she paused to watch Callie disappear into the house. "Yup, we're screwed." She shook her head in amusement before putting a hand on her stomach. "Welcome to the Robbins Torres household, little one. I just hope you'll be ready for all this. We can be a real handful. But somehow I don't doubt you'll fit right in."

~The End~


End file.
